Inheritage
by Kyros Lencho
Summary: Ranma was always fast, but that wasn't just skill. It was hereditary. And that means all hell is about to break loose. Yippie. xover GoldDigger
1. Brief History Lesson

INHERITAGE

**An "asitgoes" fiction by: Kyros Lencho**

A Ranma otherverse fic. Contains a main crossover with Gold Diggers, with a few others later on into the story. Story progresses as I come up with new ideas, there is no predetermined course.

**One Year Ago**

Carnage…

All around him… carnage.

Fires were licking the buildings all around him, greedily devouring the homes and the dead now within.

A putrid smell reeked in the air. The pungent smell of one's own species being burned. The smoke and ash caused his eyes to burn and his lungs to cry out. He choked in the air, forcing himself not to cough.

They would hear it. And they would find him.

His youthful sky blue eyes zipped around, taking in everything he could see from his hiding place. Tears were in his eyes.

He had just recently seen his mother being slaughtered by… that monster. That evil man. His father no doubt dead as well. The entire village.

He feared for his little sister. He had gotten separated from her. His mother had died with her in her arms, and he dared not look for her.

A man walked into his view. He pushed himself into the earth in a futile attempt to make him invisible.

But this man was not the monster. He smelt of kindness and wisdom. He glanced around, taking in the sight of the burning buildings.

He saw the man sigh, and continue walking quickly.

"I'm truly sorry, sir!" A young boy said nervously.

Currently, the boy, Takkun, worked as a student doctor in a hospital in Japan. He was also currently being lifted off the ground by a heavy set man.

"It isn't true!" The large man said, "How can this be true?"

"I'm… I'm just a student sir," Takkun said, shaking, "I was only told to tell you this."

The man dropped Takkun to the floor. The man walked a short distance to sit on one of those small couches that are usually set up in the hospitals, his head resting on the back, his eyes closed. Takkun saw the doctor approach the man, so he hurriedly left the hallway to cower in a patient's room.

Needless to say, the patient in said room was highly confused.

"Mr. Saotome?" The doctor said.

The heavy set man cracked an eye open at the doctor. He leaned forward and glared at the man.

"What went wrong?" he said.

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Saotome," the doctor sighed, "There was nothing I could do. You're wife is fine… but I'm afraid the miscarriage has had many unfortunate side effects."

"What?" The heavy man asked, glaring.

"You're son was still born, Mr. Saotome," the doctor said, "The poor boy had a serious birth defect, and if he HAD survived through birth, chances were slim that he would survive through to tomorrow."

The heavy set man glared still.

"Also…" The doctor sighed, "You're wife had some… unforeseen complications. I'm afraid that it will be impossible to have another child. The miscarriage caused severe damage to her uterus."

The man just growled and glared at the doctor. The doctor bowed to him, and left the room.

"DAMN IT!" Mr. Saotome yelled.

**Two Years Later**

The Saotome's looked out at the children playing in the backyard. Mrs. Saotome still showed distress because of the loss of her child. Mr. Saotome looked oddly calm and actually quite serene.

Mrs. Saotome's eyes were drawn to many of the small girls around the yard, and almost all of the young boys. They were all from at least 3 to 6 years old. She couldn't help but watch them and smile and weary smile.

Mr. Saotome's eyes were only focused on one place. A small group of boys that were gathered out to the edge of the back yard; near a giant old oak tree. They were surrounding and yelling at two of their playmates.

Mainly because the two boys were fighting.

One was a tall boy, probably 6 years old. His thin oily black hair covered up most of his face. He had beady little eyes, and looked quite effeminate.

The other boy was probably only 4 years old, and was quite a bit smaller than the other boy. This boy had brilliant sky blue eyes. His hair was a dirty blonde that had smudges of what seemed to be dirt in it. His blue eyes and blonde hair made him quite a standout from the rest of the kids. He was clearly not Japanese in heritage.

Mr. Saotome was watching the smaller boy with interest. The boy, although small, seemed to be very strong, and quite fast. The boy clearly was faster and stronger than the older boy, but Mr. Saotome saw that the blonde boy was allowing the other boy to win the fight.

Or so it seemed.

The small boy took a blow to the stomach. He crouched to the ground. The boys surrounding him started to laugh.

The small boy suddenly yelled a yell of anger that sounded more like a feral cat roaring than a boy shouting. The tall boy suddenly found himself on the ground nearby, clutching his wrist and crying. The way his wrist turned made it obvious that the small boy had broken it.

The small boy stood over the larger one, his shoulders sagging and he was breathing hard, more from anger than from pain.

"Oh, great," A young woman said, "He's broken someone again."

The Saotome's looked at the woman. Mrs. Saotome glanced at the fight.

"This happen often?" Mr. Saotome asked.

"Yes," The woman sighed, "Blondie over there is a scary kid, pretty depressed too. He gets heckled, and when he's angry, one or two people always get at least one of their bones broken."

"What's his name?" Mr. Saotome asked.

"He calls himself…"

**Eleven Years Later**

"Hmm…" Nabiki said.

"Ugh," The small blonde girl in front of her said as she regained consciousness.

"I'm sorry about this," Kasumi said, "Akane's really a very nice girl, although she's a bit of a psychotic maniac."

"Wow," Nabiki said, "Way to contradict yourself, sister."

Kasumi glanced at Nabiki, before she turned back to the girl.

"I'm also sorry about the misunderstanding," Kasumi smiled warmly, "We had been told that Mr. Saotome had a son."

"Does this look like a son to you, Kasumi?" Nabiki said, while poking the girls breasts.

"Please stop that," The girl blushed.

"Nabiki!" Akane yelled, coming into the room, "Stop that, she's our guest!"

Nabiki glanced at Akane, before stopping. Little sister could be scary when she's angry.

"Hi," Akane said, pulling the small girl to her feet, "My name's Akane. Wanna be friends?"

"Um…" The girl said meekly, staring at Akane.

"Come on!" Akane zipped out of the room with the blonde girl in toe.

"You study Kempo, right?" Akane asked, smiling.

"Yeah," The girl said, "And a few other things."

"Wanna spar?" Akane asked.

"Up-um… well…" The girl backed up.

"Come on, Ranma," Akane said, "I'll go easy on you."

"Okay…" Ranma sighed.

Akane watched as Ranma just stood there, not going into any recognizable stance. Akane smirked and rushed her.

She blinked as Ranma disappeared from her view. She caught Ranma standing just to her left out of the corner of her eye, and she lashed out at her again. Ranma again dodged.

For the next few attacks, Ranma continued to dodge while keeping her hands in her pants pockets.

"Stop dodging and attack me!" Akane yelled, annoyed.

Ranma didn't visibly respond, so Akane attacked again. She did so until Ranma was backed against the wall. Akane attacked one last time, certain that Ranma couldn't dodge.

She was wrong. Her fist crunched through the wooden walls of the dojo. She felt a small tap on her shoulder. She looked back to see Ranma standing there, chuckling nervously.

"PERVERT!" Akane was running around like a chicken with its head cut off, "HEAVY! SMASH! PERVERT! KILL!"

"Why this is amusing," Nabiki said, "What's up, Akane?"

"SMASH!" Akane yelled, "KILL! MAIM! CASTRATE! DESTROY! KILL!"

(translation: There is a strange young fellow in the laboratory who saw my person while in a highly unclothed status.)

"In the bathroom?" Nabiki said, she was fluent in Akane-ish. Nabiki turned towards the stairs to see a blonde boy that had spots in his hair walking at the bottom.

"Hello," He said, "I'm… Ranma, sorry about this."

"May I ask one question," Nabiki said, "I haven't seen you're wife, Mr. Saotome, but Ranma doesn't look at all Japanese."

"Well," Genma said, "It's a long story, and…"

"I was adopted, okay," Ranma growled at the girl, looking extremely put off, "and I'd appreciate it if you didn't talk about it."

Nabiki glared at him. No one threatened her, and that was obviously a threat.

"Ranma was adopted into our family when he was four," Genma said, "My own son… had been still born."

"Oh my," Kasumi gasped. No one noticed that Ranma's mood darkened.

"I'd APPRECIATE it if you wouldn't talk about it in front of me," Ranma growled at everyone. Nabiki and Akane glared at him. Genma didn't seem to notice.

"Hmph," Nabiki said, turning back to Genma, "I have to ask, wasn't the Ranma that I met earlier a girl?"

"Well, it'd be easiest to show you and explain afterwards, so…" Genma's hand flashed out at Ranma.

Ranma caught it, and pulled.

There was a sickening popping sound and Genma hastily pulled his arm back. He shoved his dislocated shoulder back into place. He rubbed the sore shoulder, and lashed out at Ranma again. This time, he managed to grab Ranma before Ranma caught him.

"Damn you, Genma!" Ranma yelled as he flew through the air. Ranma landed in the koi pond outside.

The all watched as a blonde haired girl popped back out of the water.

"He.. he's a she again," Nabiki noted.

"It is so sad!" Genma started to fake tears, very poorly. It merely made him looked extremely constipated, and Akane and Nabiki were backing away from him, "My own son!"

"I'm not your son, Genma!" Ranma shouted.

"I'm hurt, Ranma," Genma's face contorted more. His eyes started to bulge in a very ugly fashion. Akane had to suppress a scream, while Nabiki looked slightly ill, "My own son…"

"Stop that, you old fool," Ranma smacked Genma on the back of the head none-too-gently. It managed to get Genma to stop making those horrible faces.

"How…" Soun asked, "You are…?"

"In our travels," Genma said, "We happened upon the ancient cursed training grounds of Jusenkyo. It was there that Ranma acquired his cure. Oh for shame, my own mroofoo…"

Panda's cannot say the word 'son'. The Tendo's stared at the large panda that now resided here in front of them. The panda, Genma, again started to try and fake tears. It made him look like he was about to attack some invisible creature that was currently hanging from the ceiling.

"Here," Ranma said, pulling a booklet out of Genma's pack. Genma saw it, and wondered how in the world Ranma knew that was in there. Ranma then threw the booklet lightly onto the table.

"Moof?" Genma asked. Ranma glared at him.

"Jusenkyo," Nabiki said. She opened the booklet, "…this is in Chinese."

"Yup," Ranma said, "The 'pools of sorrow' of legend. Many sad stories there. No want fall in spring, very bad."

"What?" Akane asked, staring at Ranma.

"Never mind," Ranma shook her head, "The pools hold curses. And it states in that book that the curses are most tragic and sad in origin."

"What curses?" Nabiki asked.

Well… Genma held up a sign, with kanji written on it Ranma and I sparred on top of the bamboo poles. the sign flipped around My attacks overwhelmed him and he tumbled into flip a spring. When he immerged, he was a girl. flip Oh the humility… 

Nabiki stared at the sign.

"That's not the way it happened, old fool," Ranma sighed, "I was the one that knocked YOU into the spring. You jumped out as a panda, and I freaked out. THEN you hit me into the damned Spring of Drowned Young Girl."

Well… Flip The guide told us later that that curses were flip activated by cold water. Hot water would flip return us to our original forms. 

Nabiki again found herself staring at the sign. How… that sign only had two sides.

"Wait," Nabiki shook her head, "You got this book before or after you went there?"

Before. 

"You can't read Chinese, can you?" Nabiki asked the panda.

The panda pulled out a large party ball and pulled the ripcord. A banner flew from it, and small pieces of paper flew around the room. The banner plainly said "CORRECT!"

"You're an idiot," Ranma rubbed her temples.

"You're still a pervert," Akane said suddenly.

"I am not a pervert you tomboy," Ranma said coldly.

"I am not a tomboy!" Akane stood suddenly and glared at her.

"Yes you are!" Ranma yelled, "You're an uncute tomboy who's built like a brick!"

"At least my mother didn't leave me on the doorstep to some damn orphanage," Akane snarled.

Everyone looked at Akane. Ranma had seemingly frozen, but if you looked closely, you could see her shaking slightly.

"Akane," Nabiki said, "Even for you, that was a really low blow."

Akane didn't look sorry, she just stared into Ranma's now shuddering form.

"DO NOT TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER THAT WAY, YOU BITCH!" Ranma yelled in pure anger and hatred, "I SWEAR I SHALL RIP YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF IF YOU EVER SPEAK OF HER LIKE THAT!"

Akane fell back, staring at Ranma in shock and fear.

She was too scared to notice, but Ranma's eyes had suddenly become slitted like a cats and a weird green color. They glinted with unknown power that was held behind them.

Nobody moved. Ranma calmed down a small bit.

"I'll have you know that my mother was a wonderful woman," Ranma said, "It wasn't her fault to be killed, nor was it my fault to FUCKING see it when that bastard slit her throat. It wasn't MY fucking fault to see her body burned, lying on top of the body of my dead father."

…Ranma clenched her fists.

"It wasn't MY fucking fault that her blank eyes staring at me haunts me every single GODDAMNED time I close my eyes."

…Ranma's eyes narrowed, and an inhuman growl escaped form her throat.

"It wasn't my GODDAMN fault that my baby sister disappeared that day and I haven't FUCKING seen hide nor hair of her since."

Ranma breathed in deeply.

"If I ever hear you speak ill of my family ever again," Ranma glared at her, "I WILL destroy you, and nobody, not even Kami, God, or whatever spirit or deity you believe in, would be able to stop me."

Ranma walked slowly out of the room, heading up the stairwell.

**The Next Day**

Ranma couldn't believe it. Actually, he could, it was just that when he thought about it he got even more pissed off at the world.

Ranma was walking along side Akane on their way to school. Ranma didn't care about school. Go there or not, he was smart enough to survive and to do what he wanted to do.

"When we get to school," Akane called, "We DON'T know each other."

"I don't want to know you," Ranma said, "I don't want to know any of your kind."

"My kind?" Akane asked hotly.

"Don't ask," Ranma said, "You wouldn't believe me."

"Tell me," Akane asked.

Ranma glanced at Akane. She was headstrong, a bit rude, and definitely a tomboy. Ranma smirked as he realized that she would be easy to confuse.

"Oh, it's nothing," Ranma said, waving his hand for emphasis, "You humans are all alike."

"You humans?" Akane asked, "And what are you."

"I am a intergalactic pirate that got sentenced to this pile of rock because I stole the crown off the king of the Ani's head," Ranma said, "My real name is Nanu Nanu Bartzlaski the forty second."

Akane stared at him for a moment, before shaking her head.

Akane suddenly started to sprint.

Ranma, seeing Akane race forward, started after her. He was still on the fence, and he was now running backwards.

"What's with you, human?" Ranma said, "Afraid of the ancient pirate of the Nunchaku galaxy, famed prince of fancy French cheeses and the servant to he-who-is-flatulent?"

Akane started to go faster, but Ranma kept up with her.

Eventually, Ranma ran out of fence, so he hopped to the ground and jogged behind Akane.

He slowed as he saw Akane enter a large crowd of boys. After she disappeared, there were many cries of pain and the sound of flesh hitting flesh, wood, even the sound of metal striking together every once in a while.

Ranma walked around the group, which was taking up the entire gate. He hopped over the wall, before landing. He cocked his eyebrow at the antics. He heard Nabiki call to him, but he ignored it.

Akane soon was in the middle of a large group of unconscious boys.

"Popular, ain't ya?"

Akane's hand flashed up to catch the rose that was coming towards her. She didn't catch it though. She opened her eyes to see that Ranma had caught it.

"Whoever threw this should be careful," Ranma said, "Could poke an eye out."

Ranma casually tossed it away.

"Fool," A voice said, "Who are you that is so casual with Akane?"

"Well, you see, I'm a intergalactic space monkey," Ranma said, "Soft boiled in the eternal oils of the sacred Shish-Kabob."

The boy who carried the long wooden sword, a bokken, didn't react, he simply started yelling again.

"Hold!" He yelled, "Is it not polite to state ones one name before asking another for theirs? I am Tatewaki Kuno; rising star of the Furinkan school Kendo squad, the Blue Thunder of Furikan high, age seventeen."

"You're an idiot," Ranma said, "Hmph. I'm Ranma."

"No last name to give?" Kuno asked, "So you are a ronin. How dare you spe…"

"I'm not a ronin, ass," Ranma said, "I'm not even Japanese, and I was never a damn Samurai. Legally, I am Ranma Saotome. The head of the Saotome Clan happens to be an complete idiot, and I'd rather be though a bastard that to be thought as that mans son."

_NOTE: A ronin is a fallen Samurai, who has been dishonored. They have VERY low status, and most people, even commoners spit on them. Commoners do so carefully, because unlike the Samurai, ronin have nothing keeping them from killing people._

_Or at least I think so._

…

_IS KYROS GONNA HAFTA CHOKE A BITCH!_

"Pure shame you bring upon your family," Kuno said, "As a noble samurai, I must punish you for such dishonor."

Kuno raced forward, preparing to strike Ranma. Ranma suddenly blurred. Kuno's form went strait through Ranma, only to land on the other side, face down.

Ranma's face held one of pure disgust as Kuno arose.

"I… I fight on!" He yelled as he looked towards Ranma.

He charged again. As he got close, there was another blur, but this time, Kuno blurred along with Ranma.

Akane stepped back as the bokken entered the ground near her feet HARD. It was nearly buried up to the hilt.

Ranma had Kuno by the collar of his shirt, and he had pulled him in close.

"Speak of my family like that again," Ranma hissed quietly, "And I will kill you. The same way I saw those rat bastards kill my parents."

He shoved Kuno back. Kuno, surprised at what Ranma had said, landed on his ass. He simply stared as Ranma walked slowly away from him and towards the school entrance.

Everyone was staring at the boy and his super human speed.

The story of Ranma and his exploits continued on largely unchanged from the traditional story. There were few exceptions.

There was no seppuku contract, so reuniting with Nodoka wasn't such a harsh experience.

Kuno rarely attacked him, due to what Ranma said. When he did, it was only when he saw him being familiar with Akane.

The battle with Herb was also slightly different. Herb treated Ranma more like an equal. They even left on good terms with one another.

Ranma NEVER got wrapped up in ANYTHING Mousse threw at him. For reasons unexplained.


	2. Definitely Not A Good First Impression

**Two Years Later**

Ranma was older now, stronger, and had, in both forms, grown in many ways. Which mostly just annoyed him.

It's been about three months since the wedding fiasco. He didn't really want to marry Akane. He liked her. He might be tripping with her if she'd ever cool her jets, you know what I'm saying, but she blows her top way often, yo.

…

(_please excuse the temporary lapse into ghetto-fabulous speak_)

…

Anyway, Ranma was sitting in his room, alone. It had been one of those days that Ranma has come to worship. Long, boring days where no one would attack him and Akane wouldn't try to cave in his skull that much.

So far, he's had about an hour to himself. He couldn't stop thinking about his battle with Saffron. He mentally slapped himself every time that he remembered the end of that fight.

**Flashback: Two Months Ago**

Saffron couldn't believe his eyes. This… this mortal…

The finishing blow hadn't been dealt just yet, and Saffron could now plainly see the boy for the first time in several minutes. The smoke from the brimstone and ash had been blocking him from any detailed kind of view for a while now.

Saffron now knew… that he was severely screwed.

"No…" Saffron stared at the boy, "It couldn't be…"

Ranma was floating there, still in the air because of the Hiryu Shoten Ha. His eyes were cold and calculating, hiding the fact that he was extremely pissed off.

"No!" Saffron flung a humungous fireball at the boy. He started to feel at ease as Ranma disappeared from view. He would never survive that attack.

Saffron's world suddenly erupted into pain. His eyes zipped down to his chest. Ice now pierced him strait through. The fireball that he had fired split into pieces around Ranma's final attack.

Saffron glanced back at Ranma before succumbing to the darkness. Or actually, he glanced back at what Ranma had become.

Cologne stared at the sight before her. The others had ducked back into an alcove to avoid the falling debris. Shampoo was currently yelling at Cologne to try and get her to get in the alcove as well.

Cologne was the only one that had seen it. She, because she hadn't entered the alcove, was also the only one that could currently see it now.

Several large rocks slammed into the ground nearby, but she did not move nor speak.

A being stood in the ash and brimstone. It was tall and had something like a belt flapping behind it. It was looking around to get it bearings. The ash cleared a small bit, and Cologne's eye widened.

Ranma caught sight of Cologne staring at him. His eyes narrowed into a harsh glare and he ran back into the ashy mist.

**End Flashback**

Ranma chided himself again. Cologne had seen him. And he had lost his control in the fight with Saffron.

He had been desperate. His strength draining too fast. He would have had to been desperate to use what he had used. And it might end up destroying him.

He also knew that if he hadn't used what he did, Akane would have certainly died that day, and probably him with her.

But no, she lived. Ranma had saved her.

And Akane still treated him the same as she had before. Like a possession that no one else was allowed to touch. And her punching bad that she could beat up at any time.

Ranma sighed, glancing up at the few blonde strands of hair that had dislodged itself from his pigtail and was dangling in front of his face.

The wedding fiasco. God… that had been a nightmare.

"God damn it," Ranma muttered.

Ukyo had attacked, Shampoo had attacked; Ryoga, Mousse, and Happosai made damn sure that he wasn't cured of his damn curse; Nodoka had nearly been killed, Akane flipped, Genma and Soun almost went biblical on his ass. Ranma was tired of it.

Damn it, he wasn't even a part of Genma's family. Nodoka… he had accepted Nodoka. Although the woman was slightly off and still a little bit psychotic, she was quite nice to him. She… she didn't treat him as a son though. A close friend, but not a son.

Ranma shook his head. He felt oddly comforted that Nodoka didn't really treat him like a son. He… he didn't really have any friends besides those two perverts at school, and even they're avoiding him now.

Genma, for all Ranma cared, he could rot. Die and rot. He had seen Genma as a possible… father figure, up until the Neko-ken incident. After that, he completely stopped calling Genma father or 'pop' or anything like that. Genma was 'Genma', 'Saotome', or 'Old Fool'. Usually 'Old Fool'.

He was pretty sure that the back draft of all the recent messes was gonna hit him, and hit him HARD. Too much shit lately has gone unanswered. He could already see Akane's patience (what little there is) wearing thin.

Hmph, usually it doesn't 'wear' at all. It's either ON or OFF. No middle ground, and it seemed awfully opinionated about whom she is patient with… or more accurately, who she ISN'T.

Ranma shivered. A tingle arched up his spine. It disappeared a few moments later.

Ranma sighed. He turned to the door.

Which, as if on cue, opened to reveal an annoyed Akane.

"Get up," She said, her voice dripping with venom, "Time for school."

"Good," Ranma said simply. He walked over towards her. She was now even more annoyed (due to his simple answer) and was also slightly confused.

Heh, although he usually pays for it, confusing Akane happens to be his favorite pastime activity. It's right next to eating seeds.

Ranma strolled into the courtyard that was in front of the school. He glanced around. Nothing unusual.

He then listened and breathed deep.

A small clinking sound. Shampoo is about half a mile away coming in fast on her bicycle.

The rich smell of pine and topsoil, also the same misplaced smell of wet dog. Ryoga, not far off.

A set of footsteps coming closer and the shuffling of something on the ground. Kuno.

Another, slightly different clinking sound, and a satisfying SHING. Ukyo, having just pulled out her Spatula.

A hell of a lot of metallic sounds. Most definitely Mousse.

Roses. And chemicals. Lotsa chemicals. A small chuckle. Kodachi.

A slightly louder chuckle and a distant yell of 'what a haul, what a haul'. Happosai coming in from behind the school.

The small sound of grinding teeth. Akane was about to snap.

Also, a small voice, saying, "Damn Pervert doesn't even wash the dirt out of his hair."

Ranma glanced evilly at Akane. She caught it.

"What are you looking at?" She growled.

"It isn't dirt, you tomboy," Ranma said back, his voice just as cold, "I have spotted hair. I CAN'T wash it out."

Akane was angry. And, of course, confused. She couldn't believe that he had caught what she said.

Akane whipped out her mallet. Ranma let it impact him. He took the force of the blow and flowed with it, softening the still painful strike. He flew backwards before rolling and standing some ways away from Akane, who was now even more confused.

The first to reach his location was Shampoo, easily going sixty on her bike. He whirled around and grabbed the front wheel just before it impacted him. The wheel instantly stopped and the bike buckled, sending Shampoo flying over his head and away from him. She impacted the concrete HARD and was knocked unconscious.

Ranma kicked the bike and it snapped in half.

The next was Mousse. He had seen Shampoo go flying and had doubled his speed.

"DAMN YOU RANMA!" Mousse yelled as he shot weapons out at him.

Ranma diverted all of them, not even caring to attempt to dodge. Except the last one, one of Mousse's chains. He gripped it, and used it to whirl Mousse in a while circle before hurling him.

He winced slightly as the weapons, for some reason, started to burn him slightly as he touched it. That always happened.

Mousse effectively slammed head on into Kodachi. Ranma would later say that that was an 'accident'.

Ryoga was next, and with him came Ukyo. Ukyo was trying to fend off Ryoga, but often times almost hit Ranma. Ranma snapped a foot into Ryoga's stomach. It staggered him a little, but didn't really affect him.

The other fifty kicks delivered at near Arimuriken speed did. Ryoga flew a few yards away, leaving Ranma to dodge Ukyo's hug.

This, of course, confused Ukyo.

"KNAVE!"

For once, Kuno had foregone his idiotic speeches and attacked without warning (although the yell of 'KNAVE' was pretty good of a warning). This was mainly because he slightly believed that Ukyo was under his 'spell' as well.

Ranma lashed up and grabbed the bokken in mid swing. He used the downward momentum to jerk the bokken from Kuno's grip. He then, utilizing Kuno's confusion, slammed it full strength on the side of Kuno's head. He flew quite a ways away, unconscious.

Ranma didn't expect water to pour on him though, although… with Happosai coming, he should have.

She also should have expected Happosai latching onto her now feminine breasts.

"GET OFF!" She roared at him. She violently shoved him deep into the ground.

A small ways away, Cologne watched. She sighed, Ranma was about to explode. Finally. The poor boy was smart as hell, but a bit dense, and lacked common sense. She had wondered when he was going to get fed up and go on a 'rampage'. She just hoped nobody was hurt too badly.

Except the Kuno's. They're idiots.

Ranma's rage, however, was leaving her blind to several other things that were happening around her. Ryoga had recovered, as had Mousse. And Akane had finally snapped out of her confusion.

Ranma's head flew backwards as a very strong and very painful blow hit her right in the forehead.

The blow from Ryoga easily lifted her a few feet into the air. She landed on her feet though, and instantly went into an attack on Ryoga.

Ryoga started to sweat nervously. Ranma… wasn't supposed to be this strong, or this fast!

Maybe it was because she was pissed.

Ranma didn't notice but Ryoga was showing abilities that he himself shouldn't have. They were both at about twice the speed that they normally said was their top speed.

Cologne watched the two fight, silently amazed at Ranma's speed, and visibly surprised that Ryoga could almost match it.

Could… could Ryoga be the same?

Ryoga finally became flustered in his attempts to block or dodge (which were rarely successful) the gruesome attacks.

Ranma didn't see Akane as she lifted her now bigger than ever mallet above her head. She soon realized that she was there because of the brutal impact on the top of her head. The impact staggered her quite a lot, but didn't force her to the ground.

"RANMA!" Akane yelled in anger, "STOP PICKING ON RYOGA!"

Akane stepped back, loosing her angry expression as Ranma turned to her and snarled. She ripped the mallet from Akane's hands, before arching a long swipe at Akane's face. Ranma's oddly sharp fingernails scraped lightly but painfully across her neck, leaving four long marks and even a little blood.

"Slice," Ranma growled, "You're dead."

Ryoga slammed his foot into the back of Ranma's knee, easily dislocating it. Ranma whirled around, her knee bending in a very odd fashion. She slashed at Ryoga just as she had Akane. The scrapes, again followed by a small amount of blood, appeared not only on his right cheek, but they appeared on his brow and forehead as well.

"Slice," Ranma growled, "You're blind."

Mousse then slammed a ball and chain into Ranma's right shoulder.

As the shiny metallic ball slammed into his shoulder, Ranma left off an unearthly scream of pain. It easily dislocated her shoulder.

Ranma nearly dropped to the ground, clutching her shoulder. Everyone was confused. Ryoga hit Ranma a LOT harder than that, but it sounded like it hurt a hundred times more.

Ranma ripped towards Mousse, traveling at speeds no one expected that even Ranma could do. Ranma's left hand, again acting like it had claws, sliced twice at Mousse's chest.

The first one ripped four long gashes into his shirt. The second slash flew into the holes and scrapped his skin.

"Slice," Ranma said, "You're dead too."

Ranma actually managed to avoid the next attack.

Mainly because of the shout of 'Shi Shi Hokodan'. Ranma used her one good leg to leap out of the way. In mid-air though, she was met with a large impact. A small gremlin had flown into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

Luckily, the impact had jerked her leg back into alignment. She yipped out as it was painfully snapped back into place.

"RANMA," Happosai said, "How dare you attack your sensei!"

Happosai then bounded off to land on top of the school. The damage had been done.

His attack to Ranma's stomach wouldn't do anything lasting, but it gave Ranma's attackers time to regroup and go after her again.

The next mallet swing DID knock her onto the ground. Ranma coughed up a small bit of blood.

"Happosai," Cologne said, "How could you?"

"Ranma deserves a small beating," Happosai hmphed, "He should learn not to do these things."

"Oh come now," Cologne said, "You know well enough that not even a third of the horrible acts that Ranma has been through has been in any way his fault. Most of it was because of his idiotic father, Genma."

"Genma is an idiot, true," Happosai said, "But Ranma was born from him and raised by him. Ranma is then, logically, an idiot as well."

"Ranma is no idiot, and you know that," Cologne felt slightly odd backing up Ranma, "And I'll have you know that Genma is in no way related to Ranma in any way except legally."

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't notice that Ranma doesn't look at all Japanese in either of his forms?"

"What?"

"Watch, and you might find out."

Ranma was pissed, although his face was too bruised to really see it. Ryoga, Mousse, and Akane had easily flattened Ukyo. Kodachi was still unconscious from Ryoga impacting her head, and Kuno was still unconscious from Ranma's hit.

Ranma was also getting her ass royally handed to her as blows rained down on her in a constant fashion that kept her in place, trapped on the ground.

Most of the strikes hit her back. She was quite lucky that her spine hadn't broken, but the hits were now more towards her ribs and appendages.

Suddenly, the blows lessened. Ranma sighed. She then felt hot water pour down on top of her head, turning him again into a man.

"I want you to be a boy before I reward you for putting me through hell," Ryoga's voice called.

Ranma's eyes closed, trying to bite back the intense pain. He gritted his teeth and a low growl started to come from him.

"Is it just me or is Ranma looking a tad… yellow?" Happosai asked.

"So," Cologne said, her eyes closed, "He's finally snapped."

"Snapped?" Happosai said, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"His body is broken and beaten," Cologne said, shaking her head, "His survival instincts are combining with his rage, and his heritage is about to revealed to the entire school."

"Heritage coming forth, eh?" Happosai watched, now very interested.

At first, Ryoga, Mousse, and Akane didn't notice Ranma's change. Several more blows came to his back side, overshadowing the slightly sick noises of his joints realigning and his broken bones mending at inhuman rates. Some of the bruises didn't disappear though.

"I…" Ranma growled.

The blows didn't stop.

"Have…"

The blows slowed slightly.

"Had…"

The blows slowed tremendously.

"ENOUGH!"


	3. Truth

"Oh dear kami," Happosai said in shock.

"See?" Cologne said, "It isn't wise to make Ranma mad. Saffron learned that the hard way."

"So… you've known since then?" Happosai asked.

"Yes," Cologne told him, "I was the only one who saw the last few seconds of the battle, when Ranma transformed into what you see and completely slaughtered Saffron, a GOD, in one blow. And he knows I know."

"He saw you?" Happosai asked.

"Our eyes met, yes," Cologne said, "And I've been watching him since."

Ryoga, Mousse, and Akane were thrown back when Ranma forced them off of him. Ryoga and Mousse landed gracefully, like a martial artist should. Akane landed like an overweight cat on marijuana.

IE: She fell on her ass.

Ryoga and Mousse stared at Ranma in shock, similar to Happosai.

Ryoga then touched the still bleeding marks on his face. His eyes went to his bloody fingers, then to Ranma, and then back to his fingers. He then turned around and started to pace up and down the length between the school gate and the front doors. He seemed to be in conflict with himself.

No one notice, except for Ranma. Everyone was busy staring at Ranma.

Ranma was now at least two and a half feet taller, his build and scale grew with him. His lithe form was now covered in a thin yellow fur. Except for the underside of his arms, his chest, and his face, which were covered in whitish fur. The yellow fur had the brown spots all over it. His blue eyes became slitted like a cat's. His legs became slightly longer and much better muscled. A tail was reaching out from his spine. Said tail was lashing around angrily.

His face didn't change much. He kept his normal human facial structure. Two black stripes reached out from below his eyes, reaching down to an inch above the corners of his mouth. His mouth now held sharp and mean looking fangs, only slightly longer than Ryoga's. His ears were now cat ears, but still in the same place as hit human ears.

Ranma looked like a cross between a man and a cheetah.

"WERECREATURE!" Mousse yelled finally, attacking Ranma again. To Ranma, the blades that Mousse now threw at him glowed slightly, and he felt inclined not to touch them.

Silver.

Ranma easily avoided touching all of the silver plated weaponry, and flashed into motion, ripping towards Mousse like a bullet on cocaine. A small burst of sound told everyone that Ranma had nearly breached the sound barrier.

Mousse went flying back as Ranma slammed his feet and fists into him at nearly 10x Arimuriken speed. His limbs were flying fast enough to cause ripples in the air and a slight afterimage made his movements look like a computer animation from a movie.

Mousse was quickly covered in small cuts from claws and many huge bruises. There were several sick sounds as Mousse's limbs dislocated. It would hurt, but it would heal quickly and wouldn't cause lasting damage. It also seriously impaired him at the moment.

Mousse fell to the ground, barely conscious. Ranma then turned his gaze to Ryoga, who wasn't pacing, but staring at him. Ranma noted that his face looked rather sad, but almost peaceful. Ranma stared back at him.

Ryoga shook his head, turned, and slowly walked off of school ground with his head hung low. This confused Ranma, but he dismissed it and turned to Akane.

Akane was currently on the ground, staring at Ranma. Ranma glared at her coldly. Akane started to become very, very afraid as Ranma started to walk towards her. His steps now had a supernatural grace to them.

"How's this for a freak, you damn tomboy?" Ranma asked. His voice made Akane shudder. It was smooth and calculated, yet cold and devoid of all emotion.

Akane noted that Ranma now had really sharp looking fangs.

"Get… get away," She mumbled, "Please…"

"No," Ranma told her, sneering slightly, "I will not take any more of your prissy stuck up shit."

"Wh-what?" Akane asked, opening her eyes to again look at him.

"I've taken blows from you every damn day!" Ranma shouted, "All because I thought that you might grow the fuck out of it and realize what a total bitch you were being. But no, you came to enjoy it. I could see your sick twisted little smirk every time you felt your mallet hit me."

Akane stared at Ranma in fear.

"I am your punching bag no more, Akane Tendo," Ranma snarled, walking closer at a gruelingly slow pace, "I will never marry a damn human such as you. I never would marry a human ANYWAY. But you… your heart was too cold and too GODDAMN full of blind fucking rage to ever love anyone."

Akane's thoughts flashed back to that day two years ago, to the small speech Ranma made about his family. She started to cry silently in fear.

"Oh, what?" Ranma yelled, "NOW you feel sorry? Well, it's too GODDAMN LATE! I'VE ALREADY SEEN MY GODDAMN SHARE OF SHIT IN MY LIFE! I'VE EVEN FUCKING KILLED SOMEONE FOR YOU!"

Ranma's voice suddenly turned sarcastic, and started to drip with venom.

"And not because you're a good person, or a goddamned saint," Ranma said in a hoity toity voice, "I just don't think anyone deserves to die, even a goddamned psycho bitch…."

"Ranma," a voice called, cutting Ranma off, "That's enough."

Ranma turned to see Cologne standing there, for once not on her staff. Happosai was behind her, looking slightly like a sad puppy (about as disturbing as Genma's crying face).

"She has learned her error," Cologne said.

"You don't fucking know what I've been through, Cologne," Ranma snarled. Cologne looked slightly surprised that Ranma had actually used her name, "Don't you goddamn talk to me about when it's enough."

"Save it for another day, Ranma," Cologne said, her voice calm and strangely soothing, "You've hidden yourself and what you are for nearly you're entire life. If anyone deserves a break, it's you. And I'm going to see you have one."

Ranma stared at her in shock, although it was clearly obvious that he was still royally pissed.

"I've had enough of this," Ranma said. His form ripped into motion, flying out of the school property at inhuman speeds.

"Happosai," Cologne said.

"Yes?" Happosai asked.

"Follow him," Cologne said.

"Why do _I_ have to follow him?" Happosai whined.

"Because you're the only human I know of that has the speed needed to keep pace with a werecheetah," Cologne glared at him, "Now go."

Happosai sighed, and his own form blurred from view, going nearly as fast as Ranma had.

Cologne looked down at Akane.

"You really are a fool," Cologne said, shaking her head.

Happosai was breathing heavily by the time he got to the place where Ranma had stopped. It was smack in the middle of downtown Tokyo, on top of a rather tall building.

The distance hadn't been the problem. It was only maybe an hour or an hour and a half away by the metro. But keeping up with Ranma and going that far on foot in less than six minutes was tiring.

The building they were on was at least ten stories high, and was an apartment complex or something like that. Ranma sat on the edge, Happosai stood on the loose gravel that covered the roof.

"Go away, you old coot," The young werecheetah said.

"No, Ranma," Happosai said, "I'm here because I don't want you to do anything stupid. And to apologize."

"Apologize?" Ranma didn't turn, but his tail flicked, signaling his annoyance, "Since when do you apologize?"

"Since now," Happosai said, walking up beside Ranma to stare across the city with him, "If I had known about your past and what you were… I would not have allowed those three to beat you like that."

"My past," Ranma said, "What do you know of my past?"

"Trust me," Happosai said, "Humans may be blind to a lot of things, but I am not."

"No harm done," Ranma scoffed, "None of them were werecreatures, and they weren't using magic of silver, I've already completely healed."

"Oh really?" Happosai said, "Even Mousse? You seemed rather adamant not to touch any of those weapons."

"The silver didn't touch me."

Happosai reached out and touched Ranma's left shoulder lightly.

Ranma had to suppress another inhuman scream of pain. He visibly showed it though. Happosai, after seeing such a large reaction to such a light touch, pulled away quickly.

"Well, I didn't know silver hurt THAT bad," Happosai said, as he saw a single tear squeeze itself out of Ranma's eye, "Um… sorry about that."

Ranma just glared at him out of the corner of his eye, growling quietly.

"You should have that looked at," Happosai said nervously, "Being from a silvered weapon, that could have lasting effects if not treated."

"Fine, I'll have my goddamn injuries looked at by Tofu later," Ranma snapped, "Now leave."

"Still, I'm not going," Happosai said, catching Ranma's tail twitching wildly behind them, "I still have to make sure you don't do anything stupid."

Ranma sighed and didn't respond. He, now gripping his side, rejoined Happosai in watching over the city.

Minutes past in silence. Even the hustle and bustle of the city below was dimmed because of their height.

"So," Happosai broke the silence, "You're a survivor of the massacre…"

"I don't want to talk about it," Ranma snapped, "Yes, I survived the werewolf attack, now shut up about it."

Happosai didn't respond right away.

…

"I will help you, if you like," Happosai said.

"What?" Ranma asked, sighing.

"You wish to try and find if there were any others that survived that day when the werecheetah tribe was all but wiped out," Happosai said, "You've heard the rumors about it. Tell me, why didn't you just leave?"

"Because," Ranma said, calming down quite a bit.

"Because why?"

"Because of Nodoka," Ranma answered, "Because she treats me like a friend. Because she is my friend. I would have to explain what I was to her for her to believe me, and I don't want her to know."

"Hmm…" Happosai said, he then smirked, "She knows."

"What?" Ranma glanced at the old midget.

"She probably knows," Happosai said, "Not every human in this world is blind, Ranma. Some can see the truth, or rather, some know the truth. I've known that she knew of the supernatural for a long time. She knows more than normal people would know. My guess is that she thought you were lonely, and she agreed to adopt you because she wanted you to 'have a friend'."

"She… she knows?" Ranma asked.

"I'm slightly embarrassed to say that she knows a lot more about the supernatural than I do," Happosai said, "She has used innuendo to tell me in small hints everything she knew. She often speaks of the supernatural."

"Nodoka knew…" Ranma said, he then snorted, "Wait, when did you ever talk to her?"

"You know that I do not always stay at the Tendo Dojo," Happosai said, "There are only two people I know that can give me a serious intellectual conversation. Cologne I can't talk too much because she's at the Nekohaten. Nodoka is the other."

"Then why did she sign that stupid contract if she wanted me for a friend instead of a son?"

"You know the answer already."

"Stop being so goddamn cryptic."

"In a word," Happosai glanced at the young werecheetah, "Genma."

"Huh?"

"She used it as a fear tactic," Happosai explained, "She knew that Genma was something less than an honorable man. She used that threat as an attempt to try and stop Genma from doing anything stupid on the trip."

"Then why didn't she just stop the trip entirely?" Ranma argued.

"Really now," Happosai said, "Do you really think Nodoka, a woman with no combat skill whatsoever could keep Genma, a master martial artist, from doing anything? Genma would steal you away during the night or take you by force."

Ranma sighed.

"Let Cologne and me help, Ranma," Happosai said, "I'm sorry to admit, but both of us had a part in the massacre."

"WHAT!" Ranma yelled glaring at them.

"We both had the chances to stop it, although at the time," Happosai said, "But we couldn't. Believe me, I tried, but Genma and Soun somehow trapped me in that cave before I could. And when I didn't come, Cologne couldn't act either."

Ranma growled, his hatred for Genma growing deeper.

"And, as reconciliation," Happosai said, "I offer my help in searching for any survivors. I also offer to finally teach you Anything Goes directly. Not the half assed versions I shoved down Genma and Soun's throats."

"What?" Ranma said.

"The Saotome and Tendo schools of Anything Goes martial arts focuses on two things," Happosai held up one finger, "Tendo's style relies on a single emotional driving force, which explains why the family is like it is. Soun's focus is, of course, sadness. Nabiki has desire and greed, Kasumi has happiness (which I could be no more relieve that she at least avoided the worse affects) and Akane's is…"

"Her anger," Ranma said.

"Exactly," Happosai said, "And when you use a single emotion to fuel your ki, it starts to become dominant in your body. You're body grows adapted to it, and you'll start to be affected by it. You'll be predetermined to react in a certain way. You're body eventually becomes unable to have any other emotion other than the focus."

"And the Saotome school?" Ranma asked.

"What else," Happosai said, "Adaptation and thievery. Not to mention some pretty half assed ways of training. I taught him like that to try and make him realize that he was an dumbass, but he was too much on an idiot to catch on."

"So practitioners of the Saotome School become predetermined just like the Tendo School," Ranma said, with Happosai nodding, "They start to abuse every situation to its fullest, just like selling me for a fish, a bowl of rice, and two pickles."

"That and the training makes 'em go insane after a while," Happosai smirked, "But the TRUE Anything Goes… that is the middle path."

"The middle path?" Ranma said.

"I surmised the Anything Goes technique as a way to meditate back in my younger days," Happosai said, "I was a Buddhist priest, if you can believe that."

"No," Ranma said blatantly, "No I can't."

"Shut up," Happosai frowned at Ranma's sarcastic remark, "I was too a Buddhist. Not a very good one, though."

"THAT…" Ranma said holding up a furry finger, "That I'll believe."

Smack.

Ranma's eyes went huge.

"Oh shit," Happosai said quietly, knowing that he had forgotten and had just slapped Ranma's burnt shoulder.

An inhuman scream echoed throughout Tokyo. It lasted for about two minutes.

After the scream, Happosai stood there with a feral looking werecheetah growling at him, his eyes promised a quick death.

"Sorry, sorry!" Happosai said, "If you know, Buddhist rely on finding peace. On finding the middle path, not too far to the right, not too far from the left. Not too evil, but at the same time, not too good. Not too necessary, but not too pointless either."

"How'd you do that?" Ranma asked, calming down a little and grasping his shoulder just below the silver burn.

"I didn't," Happosai said, "It was the one middle path that I could not take, not with my… affections."

"What?" Ranma asked, "How does being a leach and a pantie thief make you unable?"

"It's the duality of yin and yang, Ranma," Happosai said, "I have to admit, even in my younger days, I was rather… rambunctious. There's a middle path in the yin and yang Ranma. Just like in not too evil and not too good, and not too cold but not too hot, there are the properties of masculine and feminine."

"What?" Ranma asked.

"One of the reasons why I was always asking you to wear those lovely silk darlings," Happosai's eyes shimmered for a few seconds before he regained his composure, "Um… ah…. Well, you have to take the middle path once more. Not too masculine and not too feminine. Everything in life has an opposite or a balance Ranma, and if you understand the opposites and are able to live in-between them, you gain immunity from them, and then you gain their powers."

"What?" Ranma asked, "You mean like immunity to heat and the cold?"

"Exactly," Happosai said, "If you're body and spirit is in tune with the middle path, the opposites can no longer affect you. Hot and cold are two of the easiest. I've been nearly burnt to a crisp several times, and frozen solid several times more, but I came out none the worse for wear."

"But how is immunity from reality make you a martial artist?" Ranma asked, slightly confused.

"It doesn't," Happosai smirked again, "It's when you become centered on the aspect that the immunities play a direct role. I got the two schools of Anything Goes from my middle path theory. You must center your emotions, just as you center your actions. Not too strong, not too weak. Not too sad, not too happy."

"Aren't you describing reaching nirvana?" Ranma asked.

"Very good guess," Happosai chuckled, "And not entirely untrue. I don't believe it would be far from nirvana. I shall never reach that state, because of my hobbies and also my species."

"What?" Ranma asked, "Human's can't do it?"

"There's a conflict," Happosai said, "Not an beast, not a human."

"That sounds like only werecreatures could learn it," Ranma said.

"True," Happosai said, "Or someone who is Jusenkyo cursed."

Ranma glanced at the old man.

"You have a curse?" He asked.

"Yes," Happosai said.

"But you've been splashed many times, and never changed," Ranma said.

"I centered myself between my curse animal and my human form," Happosai said, "That, and being immune to hot and cold allows me to ignore the effects that would normally trigger then change. Thus, I am both animal and man, just as you are, although I do not have a hybrid form. I am able to control my curse, as you may one day."

"What are you cursed to become?" Ranma smirked.

Happosai's face went strait.

"None of you're damn business," Happosai said.

Ranma hmphed. He would find out one day.

Happosai sighed at the sight of Ranma's smirk.

"Being at peace," Happosai said, shaking his head, "I've almost reached total peace. I'm quite satisfied with my life. Although it is not physical peaceful, you never see me without a smile do you?"

Ranma again didn't say anything.

"I can offer you an attempt to grasp peace, and I can offer to train you in the katas and meditations necessary to bring your body and spirit into balance," Happosai said, "It's relatively very hard training. You have to reach the physical extreme. And when you're body and spirit is aligned, you're physical body will reach near perfection."

"Perfection?" Ranma said.

"It scared me at first," Happosai said, "The muscles I had obtained through the training disappeared, but I was ten times faster and stronger. My skin was like rock, and my ki rose to unbelievable levels. You're mind will become faster, smarter, and you'll learn things about yourself that you never knew. It's almost like Clairvoyance. I often times see visions of events that have happened or are happening."

"So…" Ranma said, "If I learn this…"

"You might be able to revisit the past," Happosai said, "Not physically, but you'll become aware of all that goes on where you were."

"I… I could find…" Ranma asked.

"Yes, you could find your sister," Happosai smirked.


	4. Anything Goes Ideology

Nodoka awoke from her 'nap'. She had sat down for a moment in the middle of cleaning some linins, and had dozed off in the chair. The only reason she awoke was because of the shrill chime of the doorbell going off. She wiped her eyes quickly before heading off to answer the door.

She opened the door and glanced out at the person on the doorstep.

A large werecheetah stood there, looking down at her. There was a large burn mark on his revealed shoulder.

"Ranma?" She asks.

"You knew," Ranma sighed.

"Oh…" Nodoka said, "Please, let us talk inside."

Ranma nodded and allowed Nodoka to pull him inside.

Ranma found himself sitting in a small chair in the living room. Nodoka sat beside him, gently wrapping his burnt shoulder in a bandage. He was still in hybrid form.

"How…" Ranma said, "How long have you known about me?"

"I found out a small while after we adopted you," Nodoka said slowly, "Your nightmares used to cause you to change."

Ranma blinked. That was true, his nightmares when he was young were horrible, and he often awoke in his hybrid form.

"I have to admit," Nodoka said, "I often thought about confronting you about it, but you seemed to be trying to hide it the best you could, and I was afraid it would scare you off."

Nodoka looked up at Ranma.

"You were very cute like that," Nodoka said smiling.

"Heh heh," Ranma chuckled, but that made his shoulder her, "Ow, ow, ow…"

"Tell me," Nodoka said, "I don't know much about… people like you. I…"

"I'm a werecheetah," Ranma said, "No, I'm not like the ones in the movies. I was born this way, the rest of my family were werecheetahs as well."

"The rest of your family," Nodoka said, "What… happened to them?"

Ranma sighed as the painful memories came floating back.

"They were killed," Ranma said, "By the werewolves. Almost all of the werecheetahs were killed. I'm probably one of the last few remaining."

Nodoka looked at the floor, thinking that over.

"I wanted to ask you something," Ranma said, "You've never treated me like a son, and I thank you for being my friend."

Nodoka smiled slightly.

"I couldn't leave you like you were in the orphanage," Nodoka said, "Genma seemed adamant in adopting you, and I wanted to try to help you."

"I… I want you to remain my friend, Nodoka," Ranma said, "I've been given a chance to try and find my baby sister… and I wanted to ask if you would allow me to stay here for a while. I really don't want to meet the others again any time soon."

"Of course you can stay here, Ranma," Nodoka asked smiling for a moment, "You have… a baby sister?"

"Yes," Ranma said, "She probably doesn't remember that I exist. She was only a few months old when the werewolves attacked the village."

"How'd you survive?" Nodoka asked, "You must have been either very fast or very lucky."

Ranma smirked, something that he hadn't done in a while.

"Yeah, I was lucky," He said, "I was lucky that I was a werecheetah, I would have died if I was just a human. I was trapped underneath a pile of wood that fell from one of the burning houses. Luckily the wood was wet, so it didn't burn very well. Werecreatures heal extremely fast, so every time I was burned, it healed within a few minutes."

A pause.

"And yeah," Ranma smirk grew, "Werecheetahs are extremely fast. I can run at least 200 miles per hour, although I haven't tested my limits lately. I wasn't that fast when I was younger, so I would have been easily caught."

"200 miles per hour?" Nodoka's eyes grew.

"Probably a lot faster," Ranma said, "My mother and father could almost break the sound barrier. That's about 360 an hour."

"Okay," Happosai said, "The first one we'll do is the middle of hot and cold. The way you do this is easy, if not a bit painful. But in your hybrid form I'm sure you can do it."

"Painful?" Ranma asked.

"You need to immerse yourself in extremely cold water," Happosai said, "This causes your body to go into that extreme. When the water heats up to room temperature, it'll settle you near the middle. Then you do the same with near boiling water. This allows your body to settle in the middle of hot and cold."

"And it'll allow me to stop changing back and forth?" Ranma asked hopefully.

"Not quite," Happosai said, "This centers your BODY, but not your mind. You have to concentrate on the feeling of the icy water for the entire time in it. You can't ignore the pain. The same with the hot. Then, it's just a matter of realizing how the center between the two extremes feels."

"That doesn't seem that hard," Ranma said, "Just time consuming."

"I doubt you'll do any more than centering hot and cold today," Happosai said, "Although you might. You're a lot bigger in your hybrid form that I was when I was young. And after that, you only change when you allow the water to affect you."

"Great!" Ranma said.

"But you're going to have to allow it to happen a few times," Happosai said, "It involves the one we'll do after this."

"What?" Ranma asked, "Which one?"

"The center between male and female," Happosai smirked, "You're already at the extreme of male, so you need to at least get to the extreme of female before you can center yourself."

"No," Ranma said, exasperated, "I don't wanna."

"Are… are you okay, Ranma?" Nodoka asked as a werecheetah immerged into the house. The still rather tall cheetah girl was shivering like crazy.

"Cold," Ranma said, "No talk, tongue frozen."

Nodoka blinked and watched Ranma-chan walk into the furo.

"Maybe I should ask Happosai," Nodoka said.

Ranma again lay in the water. It was damn HOT! And again, he breathed through a small tube that he placed in his mouth.

The chill combined with the sting of the hot water. It made his furred skin crawl and it felt like it was burning his skin off. Eventually, the chill left him, and the hot water started to numb his skin.

At least it didn't hurt anymore.

He kept concentrating on the feeling. He laid there, unmoving for at least two or three hours.

Suddenly his eyes flew open as a tingle went through him. He couldn't feel the heat anymore, but he was absolutely sure it was still extremely hot.

Then he felt his chest.

He was a she in warm water.

Ranma again concentrated on the warmness of the water. A tingle flew through him as he went back to being male.

Ranma could feel the heat and the lack thereof in the water. It was a rather unsettling feeling. He could also almost see it. Heat glowed slightly red, where the lack thereof was a dull blue.

He slowly arose out of the pool. He glanced over to see Happosai sitting on the sink. Even in Happosai, he could see the red glow and the dull blue.

"See?" Happosai chuckled as he saw the still fully clothed werecheetah arise from the water, "Rather interesting, eh?"

"No!"

Nodoka was cooking dinner when a female werecheetah flew through the kitchen as a blur. She then saw Happosai chasing after her.

"Oh, please!" Happosai said, "They're not that bad! It'll only be for a few days!"

"No!"

"But I picked out this lovely black set!"

"NO!"

Ranma was in hell. This sucked, but after experiencing the center of hot and cold, he couldn't argue that the Anything Goes techniques worked wonders.

He had found out in the few hours after the centering of hot and cold that he could now chill and heat up his body. This made Ranma's mind buzz with ideas on martial arts techniques. The Hiryu Shoten Ha without going in the spiral was easy enough now; as he could now fire it in any direction in a compressed version he called the Wind Cannon.

Of course, the next thing Happosai had wanted him to center was the whole masculine and feminine thing. Happosai had said that after he learns it, he would be able to control the change directly, just like Happosai could control his.

So, Ranma was being forced to go to school again. And she was also forced to wear feminine undergarments. She was still very thankful that Happosai wasn't making her wear a dress or anything.

The first thing she saw as she walked onto campus was Akane. Or rather, Akane dashing at him with a mallet twice the size of her body.

Just as it was coming down with a screech of 'RANMA NO BAKA', Ranma acted.

Her rather loose clothing stretched to fit nicely as her body and bust grew. She was thankful that she had on a sports bra instead of a normal one.

Akane watched as the mallet was shredded into several pieces. She blinked as she realizes that Ranma had disappeared. Akane whirled around, looking for her.

Ranma was standing behind her with a pitying look in her eyes. Still, being an almost 7 foot tall cheetah girl at the time still made her quite intimidating.

"I feel sorry for you, Akane," Ranma-chan said, "You weren't supposed to end up like this."

Ranma had been thinking about the Tendo Anything Goes style. Akane's case was rather advanced, she was almost always angry, which was occasionally interrupted by embarrassment, confusion, or an occasional insanity.

"If I were you, I'd forget the Tendo style," Ranma said, "It's a poison."

"Perverted freak!" Akane yelled at her, "I will never give up martial arts!"

"I didn't say to give it up entirely," Ranma said, "Just the Tendo art. Learn other styles, other ways of becoming strong. The Tendo art is poisoning your ki with too much anger."

Akane roared at him and attacked again. Ranma sliced another mallet to pieces.

"FREAK!"

Akane hadn't noticed, but Ranma was using the neko-kens techniques.

"I'm not a freak," Ranma growled, "I am a werecheetah. I was born a werecheetah, and I always shall be a werecheetah."

Ranma stunned Akane by slapping her left arm lightly. Akane yelped as she felt her arm go numb as an icy chill over came it.

Ranma left Akane standing there as she watched frost form on her skin.

Akane attacked her seven more times at school, until Ranma got fed up and had shown her the limits of Ranma's new abilities with temperatures. She definitely was shocked when Ranma melted a metal baseball bat in gym class just by touching it.

The next day was Saturday. Ranma could smell the strong odor of booze, and there was a slurred voice in the wind. More than likely Akane and Nabiki had told Genma and Soun of Ranma's 'possession'.

Ranma waited for Genma and Soun to near her. She heard Soun gasp as he saw the werecheetah girl trying out some new techniques in the back yard.

Ranma was wearing her usual black silk pants, although in a larger size. She also had on a white tank top.

"Ice Claw!" Ranma shouted. She opened up her 'claws', which quickly turned from the transparent red to an icy blue than seemed to steam with its coldness. Ranma swiped her ki claws at a small target.

The target was split in three places by the claws, before it froze together again. Ranma kicked the target and it promptly exploded into large chunks of ice.

"Flare Claw!" The icy blue claws turned into a red-orange color. Ranma swiped her new claws at another target, which instantly burst into flames. The white-hot flames quickly destroyed the wooden target, burning it to ashes in a single moment.

"I'll shave you boy!" Genma leapt out of the bush. He rocketed in a beeline towards Ranma. Talking several detours along the way as his body swerved, as he was extremely drunk.

"Shave me?" Ranma asked herself.

Ranma saw that Genma held a large kettle of hot water. Ranma allowed the water to be splashed on her.

Genma's eyes went wide as he instantly sobered. Ranma hadn't changed into a boy!

Genma's eyes then widened even more when he saw the telltale signs of Ranma's sports bra. Now wet, the straps of the tank top had fallen down, revealing the straps of the sports bra.

"Boy, vy are shou wearink zat?" Genma asked in a slurred voice.

"Training," Ranma said a matter a factly.

"Oh the shlame!" Genma yelled.

Ranma could now see Soun standing up in the bushes crying his eyes out.

"Husband…" A voice came. Nodoka walked out of the house, "May I speak to you a moment?"

"Not now Nodoska!" Genma said, "I neeb to teash ze boy a leshon!"

The sound of a katana being rapidly drawn from its sheath came from behind Genma.

"Um…" Genma muttered, "Yesh dear."

Ranma watched Genma and Nodoka walk back into the house.

The area went silent for a moment. Ranma glanced at Soun, who had passed out and was using a briar bush as a pillow. He was snoring LOUDLY.

Then the sound of a large explosion came from the house.

"OW!" Genma's voice yelled.


	5. Another One

"What is wrong with you!" Nodoka yelled at Genma, "You completely screwed up Ranma's life, you twit!"

"Oh come now," Genma said, now sober enough to talk strait… at least most of the time, "Ranma hash become the worlds premier martial artist!"

"I don't want to hear it, Genma," Nodoka hissed, "You're bumbling could have made Ranma go insane on several occasions!"

"I don't know what yer talking about," Genma retorted.

"Oh, the multiple engagements, Jusenkyo, and not to mention the neko-ken," Nodoka's voice was cold and harsh, "Ranma IS a cat! You could have made him fear himself! You're lucky he kept his mind right and didn't go insane!"

"It's not my fault the boy is afraid of cats!" Genma answered.

"Wrong," Nodoka said, "If Ranma was afraid of cats, how come he isn't afraid of himself."

"You… you mean?"

"Ranma is a very smart boy. He's been playing you the fool ever since he found the booklet in your pack. He's not afraid of cats and he has conscious control of the neko-ken."

Genma started to cry.

"Oh, I'm so proud!"

SMACK!

Ranma jerked awake in the middle of the night that Sunday. Her eyes opened wide. She, still in her cheetah form, dashed around the room in a blur. Pretty soon, she had removed the feminine undergarments and had replaced them with male ones.

She concentrated.

She felt a tingle as she changed.

"YES!" He shouted.

"Very good, Ranma," Happosai said.

"I'm all man again!" Ranma said. Ranma's expression went from joy to confusion suddenly, "Wait… damn you Happosai."

Happosai smirked.

"You knew this would happen," Ranma said.

"Not really," Happosai said, "I had guessed that it would, but I wasn't for sure. When you centered yourself between male and female mentally and physically, you became comfortable with all the aspects of both sides. You are not only a man amongst men, but also 100 woman."

"I hate you, you know that right?" Ranma said.

"Yup!"

The next day at school was a day that went down in history. Mostly because when Akane again attacked with her mallet, Ranma had actually hit her.

Ranma had, upon becoming comfortable, had gotten over his feelings about hitting girls. He was half girl and he could take a hit, so he had realized that girls could take hits just as well as boys can, sometimes even better.

Akane had whipped out her large, completely wooden mega-mallet to slam it down on Ranma's head.

Ranma had parried it, with his own mallet. Or, more accurately, a war-hammer. Instead of being completely wooden, its handle was long and made of very strong bamboo. The head of the hammer was made of very shiny gray metal.

Ranma had whacked Akane's mallet HARD. It had broken in half. Ranma then spun around and stabbed the hammer into Akane's stomach, knocking her back and too the ground.

"You…" Akane said, "You hit me!"

"I know," Ranma said coldly, "I'm not going to go easy on you anymore. Attack me and I WILL defend myself."

Akane was left there, dazed. Ranma couldn't have a hammer! Only girls had hammers, and Ranma was a guy when he summoned it from mallet-space.

Akane saw someone walking towards her.

"H-hello Ryoga," She said.

Ryoga glanced down at her, and for once, didn't start to stammer or blush. His expression remained neutral.

"Where's Ranma?" He asked.

"That baka freak?" Akane said, "He's inside."

"Hmph," Ryoga said, "Idiot I'll agree with you, but he is no more a freak than I am."

Ryoga walked inside the school without saying anything more to Akane.

"Ryoga?" Akane asked quietly.

That day at lunch, the next thing that would make the day go down in history happened.

Ranma eyed Ryoga as he neared him. Ryoga's clothing was baggy, just like Ranma's was.

"Hello, cat," Ryoga said in an oddly calm voice.

Ranma's eyebrows arched in interest.

"What?" Ranma asked, "No 'Ranma prepare to die'?"

"No," Ryoga said, "I'm simply here to apologize."

"What?" Ranma said, not staring at Ryoga in confusion.

"I'm a fool," Ryoga said, glancing at the ground, "I'm such a damn fool."

"Heh… What do you mean?" Ranma asked.

"I swore to try and find any werecheetahs that escaped that day," Ryoga said, "So I could try and protect them from my brethren."

"What!" Ranma said, standing up. He glared at Ryoga.

Ryoga just sighed.

"I don't condone what they did that day," Ryoga said, shaking his head, which was still drooped forward, "They even killed my family when they tried to stand up to them, I was only spared because I was four at the time. If I had known you were a werecheetah…"

"You…" Ranma growled, "You're a werewolf!"

"Yes," Ryoga said.

Ryoga's eyes snapped towards Ranma as Ranma burst into motion. Ranma's form shifted, which meant that Ryoga now had a super fast werecheetah flying towards him.

Ryoga managed to catch Ranma's fist. Ranma might have werecheetah speed, but he was also in a blind rage, and was fighting in a very sloppy fashion.

"I'm trying to apologize!" Ryoga said, "I wasn't the person who ordered the damn attack!"

"SHUT UP!" Ranma's other hand flashed out. Ryoga felt the blow hit his shoulder. Ryoga fell back onto the ground.

"RANMA!" Akane's voice called, "STOP PICKING ON RYOGA!"

"Akane no!" Ryoga yelled as Akane hefted her new mega-mallet.

Ranma whirled around, a kick smacked into Akane's leg, causing her to loose her balance. Another kick blew Akane across the schoolyard, unconscious.

"RANMA!" Another voice, this one came from a demon head Soun, "HOW DARE YOU ATTACK MY LITTLE GIRL!"

Ranma slammed his palm into Soun's stomach. A heat wave burst from Ranma's palm. Soun flew back with a large hole burnt in his shirt and second degree burns on his stomach. Ranma was about to go after Soun again before someone grabbed Ranma in an arm lock from behind.

There was a series of screams from the other students, similar to the screams that had come when Ranma had first transformed a few days ago.

Ryoga had become a huge werewolf. His body covered in brown fur, his ears pointing and becoming like a wolf's ears, his face staying the same except for his eyes. They used to be yellow, now they were a shiny gold. A wolf's tail came from Ryoga's spine.

Where Ranma now had tremendous lower body strength in his hybrid form, Ryoga had superior upper body strength in his. Ranma couldn't get out of the lock.

"Listen you idiot!" Ryoga said, "I didn't have any say so in that damn attack! They killed my brother and almost killed me!"

"DAMN YOU!" Ranma tried to push out of the lock using his leg muscles, but Ryoga's previous super human grip had grown ten times stronger.

"Damn it, listen to me!" Ryoga yelled, "I know who you are! I know who you're family is! I know who your sister was!"

"SHUT UP ABOUT MY SISTER!" Ranma hissed at Ryoga, "YOU BASTARDS KILLED HER!"

"She's still alive, you twit!"

Ranma froze. His eyes snapped open just in time to see Soun running towards Akane like a bat out of hell.

"Wh-what?" Ranma asked in a small voice.

"She's still alive, Ranma," Ryoga didn't let Ranma out of the lock, "A rumor that I found when I had somehow gotten to America. A werecheetah female about our age living in one of the states. I don't know where she is in America, but she's there."

"She's alive?" Ranma asked.

"Yes," Ryoga said, "Let me help you find her. I swore on my parents grave that I would find and help any survivors I found."

Ranma sighed.

"I… sorry that I flipped out on you," Ranma said quietly.

"No sweat," Ryoga said, "Most people react that way."

"What?" Ryoga said, "A way to control my curse?"

"Yup," Happosai said, "But why should I teach you, wolf?"

"Honestly," Ryoga said, "I can't say that you should. I mean… who would teach a werewolf anything these days."

"My thoughts exactly," Happosai said.

"Oh, come on you old coot," Ranma said, his tail lashing slightly, "I've known Ryoga since forever, and he's good person, if not a little obsessive."

"Fine," Happosai said, "I will tell you the lesson. After I am sure that you will not abuse Anything Goes, I shall teach you. You should have it down in a day."

"Hey, it took me almost three days," Ranma said, "Why does he get off easy?"

"Because he turns into a pig," Happosai said, "And he's a werewolf. He's already centered between man and beast. He just has to realize that controlling the change is exactly the same."

"Exactly… the same?" Ryoga asked.

"An oversimplification, but yeah," Ranma said, "I can turn to male and female in exactly the same way I change from human to hybrid to animal form."

"You just have to learn how to specify between the different between the changes," Happosai said, he then smirked, "And then centering yourself between hot and cold."

"Ryoga," Ranma said, "Before you start the hot and cold…"

"Yeah?" Ryoga asked.

"Eat a lot. I was absolutely starving by the time I finished."

Ranma glanced at the werewolf that had walked into the house. Ranma started to chuckle at the side of the shivering wolf.

"You frozen?" Ranma asked.

"Yes, brain no work," Ryoga said, "Can't feel eyes."


	6. Some Insane Tasks and Trials

Happosai, Nodoka, and Cologne (who had just returned from China) watched as the resident werecheetah and werewolf sparred. Ranma was definitely faster, but Ryoga was a hell of a lot stronger.

They were both using their new mastery of hot and cold in the battle. Ryoga had frozen the entire yard, and had kicked off his shoes to allow his claws to had traction. Ranma had slipped once before kicking his own shoes off.

They were both expertly using the ice landscape to their advantage. Ryoga often used it to slide out of Ranma's attacks, and Ranma was using it to get through Ryoga's defenses.

Ranma then jump kicked at Ryoga. Ryoga blocked, and then realized that it was a feint. Ranma hit the ground and slid through Ryoga's legs. Ranma whirled up and caught Ryoga on the back.

Happosai and Cologne both were impressed at both of their true powers. Ranma had been going easy on everyone for a while, as had Ryoga. Ranma was a little bit more skilled though.

Ryoga whirled around and swung in a massive uppercut that gave off visible heat waves. Ranma dove backwards before digging his hand claws into the icy ground. He flipped back onto his feet by pushing off the ground.

The fight was silenced by a loud thunderclap. Rain suddenly drenched the two. Ranma bolted inside, while Ryoga just sighed and walked in slowly.

"Eh," Ranma was drying himself off already, "I hate rain."

Ranma glanced outside of the window to see Ryoga walking from one end of the yard to the other. She watched Ryoga for a while.

"What's he doing?" She asked.

"Happosai said something about understanding the center between two places," Cologne said, "Ryoga's body seems not to be able to understand the laws of space."

"His directional curse?" Ranma asked.

"Yes."

"Why are you a girl?" Ryoga asked.

"Felt like it," Ranma muttered.

"What?" Ryoga stepped away from Ranma.

"Shut up," Ranma said, she turned away from Ryoga. They were both sitting on the roof, concentrating on the next center that Happosai had said. Center of emotions.

Ryoga was having a hard time because of his depression ki was in surplus in his body. Ranma was having trouble because she was still worrying about her sister, and her confidence ki was in surplus.

The same thoughts were echoing through their minds.

The center of emotions. Is there really such a thing?

Anger and Sadness. Greed and Happiness. Emotions were things that weren't set into stone. The only way there could possibly be a center is…

Their eyes snapped open.

There was no center. But there WAS a balance.

"Sneaky ass bastard," Ranma said darkly.

"Let's go kill 'em."

"Okay."

Ranma gasped as he flew upwards into a sitting position. He shook his head. In his dream, he had sensed anger, a hatred towards him that was so strong that it seemed bottomless. And that anger had a name.

Akane.

But… he also felt another feeling. A… happiness. And it wasn't coming from Akane. The feeling felt absolutely giddy. Ranma couldn't place a name to the feeling but he knew who it was.

Little sister.

"The next center you will meet shall be you're hardest to date," Happosai said, "It took me several years to obtain this center. It is the center of your body and spirit. You must know and understand the limits of your body and the limits of your spirits."

Ryoga and Ranma (male) stared at the old man.

"I believe that you shall become centered in no more than two weeks," Happosai said, "You're training and hardships outweighed my own when I was centered. You two know your bodies and spirit much better than any of your age."

Happosai then stood up.

"You shall test your physical body in a harsh training regime that Cologne and I shall teach," Happosai said, "Then, in the second week, you shall explore the deepest depths of your psyche."

Happosai started to walk from the room.

"Ranma," Happosai said, "The Clairvoyance is upon you, is it not?"

"I think so," Ranma nodded, "I felt Akane's anger last night along with… her."

"Akane's anger…" Ryoga said, "So that's what that was."

"Good," Happosai said, "Do you now understand the meaning of the Anything Goes style?"

"The center of everything," Ranma said, "As you learn the center of reality, you learn the truth of reality. Once you understand the truth, you discover how you can control it. When we learned what hot and cold really are, we gained the ability to utilize it."

"Very good," Happosai said, "You are exactly right. Anything Goes means that, with a little imagination, a little training, and a little thinking, one gains the ability to do anything."

"Not exactly martial arts, though," Ryoga said, "But in terms as such, there is no way to reach the epitome of Martial Arts. You learn your limits, and you learn how to fight through the intense training, and you become intelligent through the mental aspects."

"Very prospective, Ryoga," Happosai said, "Tonight, you should both get plenty of sleep. This week isn't going to let you rest much."

"Thi…" Ryoga said, "This… sucks…"

"At l-least you don't h-have to w-wear this damn… outfit," Ranma chimed in.

Cologne was a very effective teacher, but her methods almost beat Genma in difficulty. At least she wasn't as INSANE. Well… Ryoga was pretty sure she was sane, Ranma wasn't.

She had basically forced Ranma to only train while in her female form. And even then, wearing an outfit similar to the one that Shampoo always wore. In fact, Shampoo was wearing them right now. She had joined the two in their training of the Anything Goes ideology.

How Cologne managed to convince Happosai to teach her, the world may never know.

And as far as Ranma and Ryoga had gathered from Shampoo, the world would never _want_ to know.

Ranma and Shampoo's meeting earlier had been a very odd one. Shampoo still wanted to marry Ranma, but as Ryoga and Ranma told her, a werecreature and a human rarely ever have children. The werecreatures genealogy rarely allows a child with a human. They would both the over forty before Shampoo would be pregnant.

Cologne, since Ranma was now 'comfortable' with her female form, had made her an honorary Amazon. This made both the kiss of death and the kiss of marriage null and void. Shampoo hadn't been partial with this, but had accepted it.

Ryoga and Ranma were put to tests that were well beyond Shampoo's tests. Mainly because any injury they sustained would be healed before long.

Ryoga was to pick up boulders that had to weigh at least 5 tons. He, after lifting them over his head, would have to toss them about 50 feet, where they would fall off of a cliff. Any less than fifty feet would result in having to throw a boulder that weighed twice as much. He has thrown four 10-ton boulders, although the first one hurt his left arm.

Ranma was one a huge log in the river next to Ryoga. The river ran off of a huge waterfall that went off the same cliff as the boulders. She, facing the waterfall, had to run at top speed, about 300 miles per hour, and use the small grooves cut in the log to give it enough propulsion to resist the current. She had fallen down about 6 times, it wasn't pleasant.

Shampoo and Cologne were at the bottom of the cliff. Shampoo was hung from a tall tree, with only her index finger unbound. The boulders were directed on a collision course with her. If she failed to do the Breaking Point, it would impact her, sending her swinging backwards. Ryoga felt for her, that shit hurt like bloody hell.

"You… hup," Ryoga lifted the boulder over his head, "Y-you know t-that you l-like d-dresses."

He barely managed a smirked.

"Shut… up…" Ranma said, panting.

Ryoga glanced at Ranma. He then dropped the boulder. It rolled slowly towards the edge of the cliff, and slowly went over it.

Ryoga wasn't noticing that. He was looking at Ranma.

The thin material that makes up the dress thing that Ranma was wearing was mostly white. And Ranma was soaked.

Add those two together to make Ryoga stare. At least for a while. Ryoga started chuckling.

"What?" Ranma looked at him. She followed his eyes until it landed strait on her chest. She could see strait through the material, and could plainly see her white furry breasts.

She tripped on one of the grooves and splashed down into the river.

Cologne saw Ranma fall again. It was interesting to say the least. It WAS a good three hundred foot drop. She watched as Ranma pulled herself from the water and charge the cliff side.

She also watched Ranma using her speed to run UP the cliff face.

"Ranma… fast," Shampoo said.

"That… is an understatement," Cologne noted.

Ranma reached the top of the cliff and flipped onto it.

A loud thudding sound signified the time when Ryoga's face hit the ground.

"STUPID WOLF!" Ranma's voice called out.

"Shampoo," Cologne said, "Free yourself."

"Shampoo… can't…" Shampoo said.

Cologne glanced at her.

Shampoo hung limply in the ropes. The last boulder had come at her at an odd angle, and she had been spun around. Shampoo looked like she was about to puke, and she hadn't even started winding down.

Cologne stopped her and got her out before she hurled.

Happosai and Cologne looked at the three students. Ryoga was the only one sitting up. He DID have the wall to lean against though. Shampoo was lying across a chair, and Ranma was halfway lying on the couch, her head touching the floor.

Shampoo was unconscious at the moment. Only Ranma and Ryoga's healing abilities kept them awake.

"You have done well," Happosai said.

Ranma and Ryoga voiced their joy by flinching slightly. Ranma also added a small squeaking noise.

"Sleep well," Happosai continued, "Tomorrow you'll start towards the mental extreme."

Ryoga and Ranma both managed a groan before passing out.

Ryoga slumped to the side. Ranma flopped to the floor, but didn't awake.

"Ugh," Ranma said wearily, "I tired."

"That is the reason you must start immediately after getting to the physical extreme," Happosai said, "You're bodies, even with you're healing abilities, will need several days to recuperate. This means that you'll be couch potatoes for a while, so you have nothing better to do than think."

"No want move," Shampoo said. She was still lying sideways on the chair. But now she had pillows all over her, which made it extremely comfortable.

"As long as you are comfortable, it doesn't matter if you don't move," Happosai said.

Ryoga was still lying on the floor, but had somehow gotten onto his back, lying on a thick comforter, and a pillow had spawned mysteriously under his head. Ranma was no longer on the floor, but lying on the couch.

"I want you all to concentrate," Happosai ignored the groans, "You have to concentrate on yourself, but not your physical bodies. You have to completely forget about everything going on around you. Lose yourself within yourself. The physical fatigue will help numb your body and allow you to do this easily. Once you have forgotten everything, you will have something like a dream. It will mentally tire you greatly, so when you awake from this state, a large meal will be ready and then you will sleep until tomorrow."

"Whadda we do when we get there?" Ranma mumbled.

"When you enter yourself, you'll know what to do," Happosai said, "Trust me."

A small snore came from Ryoga.

"AND NO SLEEPING!" Happosai kicked Ryoga.

"Ow! My ribs!"


	7. Internal Conflict

"Are you sure about this, Happi?" Cologne asked.

"Why, Cologne," Happosai looked at her with a smirk, "You haven't called me that in ages."

"Answer the question," Cologne sighed.

"Yes, I am completely sure," Happosai said, "They will face their inner demons and fears. They will learn what drives them, and they will learn much."

"You sure that they will be all right?" Cologne said, "I don't know about Shampoo but I'm absolutely sure that Ryoga and Ranma have some pretty big demons in them and quite a few skeletons in their closet."

"They shall be fine," Happosai said, "At least I hope so."

"You said something about a schedule, Happi," Cologne said, "What did you mean?"

"I told three men of my ideals, of the Anything Goes style," Happosai said, "In all four of us, we encountered our fears and demons in the exact same order."

"Which one was first?" Cologne asked.

"The worst one, and the only dangerous one," Happosai said, "Tonight, they face their true fear."

**Ryoga's Mind**

"Wh-where?" Ryoga said. He was familiar with the room he was in, but he couldn't place a name to it.

He was in a relatively small room. In it, there was a dresser, a desk, and a bed. The bed had green sheets and a dark brown blanket. The dresser had many of the drawers ajar. On the desk there were several wooden carvings of wolves.

"Ryoga…" A voice hissed.

Ryoga whirled around. He glanced around the room again.

"Ryoga…" The voice came again from behind him, hissing in the same fashion.

Ryoga whirled around again.

The house suddenly disappeared from view. He had turned, and it vanished. He now stood in an inky black nothingness.

"Useless… little… Ryoga…" The voice called.

Ryoga started to feel the sharp sting of fear.

"Wasn't… able… to… save… you're… brother…" The voice called in its choppy voice, "And… it's… all… your… fault…"

"No!" Ryoga called, "It wasn't!"

"Your… parents… as… well…" The voice seemed to ignore him, "They… too… died… because… of… you…"

"No!" Ryoga yelled, "It was that… that…"

"They… would… still… be… alive… if… it… wasn't… for… you…" The voice called, "Worthless… useless… pointless… little… Ryoga…"

"I'm not worthless!" Ryoga called, now angry, "They may have survived if I hadn't been born, but I was! And I WILL make all those who try to hurt anyone else PAY!"

The voice stopped talking suddenly as Ryoga said the word 'pay'. A sound came to him. The sound of something shuffling on the ground.

In front of him, a huge monster suddenly burst out of the darkness. It was a naga. The lower body of a serpent, the upper body of a person, in this case, the person looked exactly like his mother. Her long sharp canine teeth dripped a green liquid that fell beyond the invisible ground that they were both on. Scars covered her body, and her eyes were completely white.

"I am Fear," The naga said, without moving her scarred lips or her scarred face, "I am your fear of uselessness and denial. I am the cold biting fear that is in the back of your mind at this very moment."

Ryoga just stared at the wolfen naga. It easily was five times taller than even his hybrid form.

"Come… face me."

The naga tore at him.

The naga was fast, maybe as fast as Ryoga was. But Ryoga was used to fighting enemies that were much faster than him; this came from his spars with Ranma.

Ryoga stepped back slightly, before leaping at the naga, slipping through its defenses instantly. He slammed into the naga, his impact caused a flash of red and blue lights to happen. The naga screeched as electricity started to arch over her body, quickly turning her into dust.

Strangely, the fight hadn't last long, but Ryoga was winded and extremely tired.

He slumped to the floor.

**Ranma's Mind**

Ranma was again in the burning village. She looked around in horror, until something caught his eye. A small boy, lying under a large pile of wet wood. The boy looked to be dead, but Ranma knew better.

She was seeing herself.

She was in the past.

She saw her younger form glance upwards. Ranma looked in the same direction to see the man that had walked by all those years ago.

Ranma followed the man with her eyes, before the man turned and left her eyesight, having gone behind a house. Ranma burst into motion, following the man.

As she turned around the corner, the world went pitch black.

"What the hell?" Ranma yipped as she stopped as fast as she could.

She looked around for a moment, before a figure walked from the darkness.

It was her male hybrid form. But he had no eyes, nose or mouth. He was almost totally feature-less, like a moving shadow.

Ranma backed away from the shadow.

"You should have just died," The shadow said, "You were weak, and the weak deserve to die."

"No," Ranma said, "No one deserves to die."

"Even the people who killed your family?" The shadow asked, "You contradict yourself. You were too weak to do anything that day, and you are still too weak to do anything."

"I'm not weak!" Ranma said, "I was only three! How was I supposed to do anything!"

"Excuses," The shadow said, "A real man would have challenged the werewolves, and died fighting them."

"But I couldn't," Ranma started to shake, "I was only three years old, how was I supposed to do anything?"

"You didn't even try," the shadow said, "If you had tried, you might have been able to save your sister."

"My sister is still alive!" Ranma screamed at the shadow, tears in her eyes.

"No," the shadow said, "That man you saw found her and killed her. You saw her murderer, and you let him go."

"No…" Ranma said, "I can't believe that…"

Halfway around the world, a young girl dropped the card she had been holding. She suddenly felt unbearably sad. A single tear welled up in her eye.

"Hey," A girl next to her said, "You okay?"

"No!" Ranma yelled, her eyes snapping open, "I can feel her! I know she's alive!"

"She is dead, foolish cheetah!" the shadow snarled, "She died because of you!"

The girl slowly bent over to pick the card up.

"Um… yeah…" she said, "I-I'm fine. It's nothing."

The girl almost felt like she was feeling another person's pain. Words and phrases popped into her head, a vision of a shadow. Of a burning village. Of a kind woman. Of a large man, and of a school. Of a kindly looking werewolf, and of a pair of elderly people. Of a phoenix, a dragon, a cat, a duck, a panda, a piglet, and a minotaur.

And finally, the girl screamed as she saw the vision of her dead mother and father lying on a pile of burning bodies, her mothers eyes staring blankly at her.

Ranma shook her head violently, ridding the image of her parents from her mind.

"I can feel her," Ranma said, "I know she's there. I know she senses me as well."

"Fool!" the shadow yelled in anger, "I am FEAR! I rule the lives of every being on this earth, and I rule you! You shall never find your sister!"

"I WILL find her!" Ranma glared up at the shadow, "And there is nothing you can do to stop me!"

The shadow suddenly ripped into motion, flying towards Ranma. Ranma smirked. The shadow was in a blind rage.

Ranma unsheathed her ki claws, and sank them into the shadow's stomach. The shadow gasped. The claws in its chest burst into a green light, and a huge air blast ripped it asunder.

Ranma gasped for air, and slumped to the floor. She was tired.

"Where are you, little sister?"

"B-big…" The smaller girl said.

"What is it, what's wrong?" the tall girl asked.

"Big brother," The girl muttered. Her eyes were out of focus, "I'm here, big brother."

"Big brother?" the taller girl asked.

"…There," Ranma smiled wearily, "Don't worry, sister, I'm coming."

**Shampoo's Mind**

"SHAMPOO NO LIKE OOMPAH LOOMPAHS!"

A dozen green haired oompah loompahs were chasing after her, singing.

"Oompah, Loompah, dew-pa-dee doo…"

That same day, on the opposite side of Nerima, a young Tendo broke her chain of emotion.

And no, Akane was still pissed off about everything and had gone back to wanting to smash Ranma. Kasumi as well, remained calm and happy no matter what the hell was going on.

It was Nabiki. And Nabiki, for once, was pissed.

How dare he…

Nabiki fumed.

How dare he threaten my family. How dare he pull a stunt like this and interrupt her business. How dare he…

Nabiki, under normal circumstances, would realize how stupid her thoughts were becoming. Honestly, even Akane would have realized they were idiotic.

How dare he be born a freak. How dare he leave the house. How dare he turn into that… monster at school. How dare he make Ryoga a monster. How dare he hurt my family. I'll make him pay.

Ryoga ate at his normal rate. He looked slightly happy, knowing that he had beaten his fear. Although his fear had been absolutely huge.

Shampoo was still shivering. She had kicked the crap out of those oompah loompahs, but they still creeped her out.

Ranma however… now he was grinning ear to ear, eating and snarfing down food at a rapid pace.

"Ranma," Nodoka said, smiling, "You look happy today, any reason why?"

Ranma flashed her a furry and catlike smile.

"Yup," He said, "I know where my sister is."


	8. Ah Atlanta!

Ranma, Ryoga, Shampoo, and Nodoka walked out of the airport in Atlanta, Georgia. Ranma was tempted to go hybrid and run there, but Nodoka convinced him to go with the others in a cab.

Happosai popped out of Shampoo's suitcase. Cologne popped out of Nodoka's. Money had been tight, so they had to smuggle them aboard. It wasn't that hard, especially with Shampoo's knowledge of hidden weapons. Also, Ryoga had learned how to 'displace' things when he centered his sense of reality.

He could 'put them aside' and out of view for later purposes. It was better than the Hidden Weapons because it was like putting them all in a bag. You could forget about them with no real consequence, whereas with Hidden Weapons they will reappear if you lose focus.

Of course, if you have a fire burning in your displacement, the heat from it would spread out in your body, making you hot and sweaty. Ryoga and Ranma believe that if they ever had to put silver inside of it, it would hurt. The items in the displacement affected the carrier in small but noticeable ways.

On the plane, Ranma had been meditating and centering his own sense of reality. By the time the plane landed, he had figured it out.

Ranma had instantly put another set of clothes into the 'displacement' or 'item space'. A female set. If he wanted to be female at them moment, it would be as simple as pushing his male clothes in and pulling the female ones out. He wasn't going to try it just yet, as he had not yet perfected getting them in and out quickly, meaning that he or she wouldn't be wearing anything for maybe two seconds.

Ryoga and Shampoo had fallen asleep by the time they arrived on the street that he had seen in his dream state.

Ranma ripped into motion, flying out of the window without opening the door. He bolted down the road, going faster than the speeding car, even though he was in human form. His baggy clothes slowed him slightly, but not much.

Ranma skidded to a halt in front of a large house. He stared up at it for a moment. The visions in his dream state had merely said the town and street, but not the house.

But he knew it was this house. He knew.

He stood there, staring up at the house, until the two cabs stopped in front of the house. The others piled out and stood with him.

"Well, ring the door bell already," Ryoga said.

Ranma slowly reached out to press the doorbell. He stopped just before touching it. Ranma smirked.

"What are you doing?" Ryoga asked.

Ranma closed his eyes for a moment.

A squeaking sound suddenly erupted from the house. It was hard to hear at first. Someone yelled to open the door. The squealing becomes louder as an odd looking person opened the door. The boy looked at the people outside before turning towards a staircase.

A blur flew down the staircase before it charged the door and slammed into Ranma.

Ranma and the blur flew out into the middle of the street. Ranma flipped over and landed on his feet lightly in the middle of the street.

Everyone glanced back at them to see Ranma in his hybrid form being hugged deeply by another werecheetah.

From a window upstairs, who girls were looking out at the pair.

"Hey," One said, "That guys a werecheetah!"

"Look's like Brit knows 'em," the taller girl said.

"He's cute," The smaller one started to drool slightly.

"You scare me sometimes," The tall one said, glancing at the drooling girl.

"Everyone," Brittany said, "I want you all to meet my older brother."

"Yo," Ranma said.

Silence for a moment. Theo and Julia looked confused. Séance looked slightly bored. Gina was looking at the two people of very short stature. Brianna was in her own little world, laughing occasionally. Genn was staring at Brianna with a scared look in his eyes.

They were all seated in the rather large living room.

"You have a brother?" Theo asked.

"Yes," Brittany said, "I didn't know he existed until yesterday at the ma…"

Brittany's mouth snapped shut.

Theo and Julia turned their gaze to her.

"At _where_?" Theo asked.

"Ehheh," Brittany nervously laughed, "…t-the mall?"

Theo groaned and started to rub his temples.

"It's okay," Gina said, "We didn't buy that much."

"…_we_?" Julia turned to Gina, "Since when did you go on the shopping binges?"

"Well, I was hungry and Brittany said she wou…" Gina noticed that Brianna was salivating. She just stared at her. Theo and Julia turned to her too.

Ryoga was staring back at the cat girl. He had been scooting away from her for the past three minutes, with a fearful look in his eyes.

"Bwahahaha…" Brianna laughed quietly.

Of course, Ryoga and Shampoo had no idea what was going on. They didn't speak English.

Okay, here. A LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEST! (list)

Ryoga and Shampoo can only speak Japanese. Brittany now understands it because of her link with Ranma, but cannot speak it.

Ranma knew English from back when he was four, but he hadn't used it a long time, so he couldn't speak it without a Japanese accent.

Julia, Brittany, and Séance can only speak English.

That left Theo, Gina, Nodoka, Happosai, and Cologne that spoke both.

It didn't matter with Genn, he's telepathic anyway.

"What's up with her?" Ranma asked quietly into Brittany's ear.

"She's a raving nymphomaniac," Brittany said, "She's got her eyes set on conquering you're friend."

"Um…" Ranma said, "That might not be a good idea."

"You try and stop her, I haven't been able to yet," Brittany said.

"No, it's not that…" Ranma said, "It's… um…"

Ranma whispered something very quietly into her ear.

Brittany's eyes grew huge.

"He's WHAT!" She yelled, standing up.

"You told her, didn't you?" Ryoga asked in Japanese.

"Um… yeah, sorry," Ranma told him.

"What?" Theo asked, "Told her what?"

"Um…" Ranma said, "It… um… it's complicated."

"How can you be friends with him!" Brittany asked loudly.

"Because," Ranma said, "He didn't know what I was, and I didn't know what he was. We only found out about each other two months ago. Ryoga's a nice guy."

"But…" Brittany said.

"It's okay," Ryoga said, "I'll understand if you want me to leave."

"What're they talking about?" Julia whispered to her husband.

"That boy, Ryoga," Theo whispered back, "He's not human, but they haven't said what he is."

"Calm down, Brittany," Ranma said, "Ryoga's parents and his older brother were killed by other werewolves. He's a bit obsessive, so he's been searching out werecheetahs and make sure the rest of the werewolves left don't kill them."

"What!" Theo yelled.

Ryoga groaned.

"Mr. Diggers," Nodoka spoke, "I reassure you that, even though Ryoga is in fact a werewolf, he means no harm to anyone. He is a very noble boy and Ranma's best friend."

"What's going on?" Séance asked, "Hearing only one side of the conversation is confusing."

"Ryoga's a werewolf," Gina said.

Chaos ensued.

A slightly crispy Ryoga now sat in the backyard. Of course, one normally doesn't sit on their face while in hybrid form. He had been forced to take hybrid form when Brianna began shooting at him.

Ranma, also in hybrid form, was sitting next to him.

"They're certainly enthusiastic," Ranma said.

"Fmmphfs," Ryoga responded. (_"Groan…"_)

"Oh come on," Ranma said, "I know you think that drooling one was cute."

"Feef mfefe!" Ryoga shouted. (_"She's freaky!"_)

"She freaked me out too," Ranma said, "Although I guess she's family now."

"Ef fmeph phemfe phf phew," Ryoga said, "few mphf hmm." (_"I feel sorry for you, you live here."_)

"Hey, you're gonna be staying in the house for a while too, ya know," Ranma said.

"Smme em nff memephe ph pher," Ryoga said. (_"At least I'm not related to her."_)

"So I have a freaky family," Ranma said, "I don't care if they're freaky, hell, they're gonna think I'm freaky when they find out about my 'other form'."

"Hmmmmhmhmhmhmhmhm," Ryoga laughed.

"Shut up, pig-dog."

"Eh hmft ew…" ("_I hate you."_)

"I'm not sure about this," Theo said, "Those three… they're not normal kids."

"I did sense something," Julia said, "They seemed too… too something, I can't place it."

"They all have a strange feel to their aura. A normal persons aura swirls with their emotions and feelings. The colors shift around in a way that symbolizes what they are feeling and thinking," Theo said, "The same is true with those three, yet the auras are tremendous, just like the two elderly."

"They don't look like fighters," Julia said, "Ranma has the same type of grace that Brittany has. Ryoga carries himself like any werecreature would. I mean, for a werewolf, Ryoga looks gangly. He has nearly no muscles on him. Neither does Ranma."

"I know," Theo said, "That's the thing. The way they looked and felt wasn't correct. I noticed when I searched their auras. Their physical strengths are somehow in tune with their mental ones. Instead of their muscles being physical, they are entirely spiritual in nature. This allows their abilities to go beyond the limits of the physical body."

"Theo," Julia said, "Ranma is Brittany's brother. I doubt that he would hurt her. Ryoga… he didn't attack Brianna when she started shooting at him. He even seemed to be a little infatuated with her."

"Still," Theo said.

"I do understand what you're getting at, though," Julia said, "We do not know them, and as such, we should keep a close eye on them. But not to the point of obviously distrusting them."

"I guess you're ri…"

A scream echoed throughout the house. It was Brittany.

Theo and Julia ripped into action.


	9. The Odd Family?

They found Brittany, hyperventilating in the kitchen, leaning up against the kitchen counter. Over her was another girl, another werecheetah.

"You okay?" The girl asked.

"You there," Julia said, "Who are you?"

"It's me," The girl turned, "Ranma."

"What?" Theo asked, concentrating at her.

Theo fell backwards into the chair.

"Theo?" Julia asked.

"Ranma, please explain," Theo said, "I wish to know why my daughter is hyperventilating."

"In china, there's a place called the Pools of Sorrow," Ranma said.

"Jusenkyo," Theo said.

"Yes," Ranma told him, "I was cursed to become a girl when splashed with cold water. Recently, through my studying of the Anything Goes Ideology, I've gained conscious control over my curse."

"If you had control over it," Theo said, "Shouldn't you not change?"

"I could," Ranma said, "But I don't. It's tied to how I learned to control it. I'm comfortable with both sides of the coin. Some days I'll choose to be male, others, female. Don't ask me why, I don't really know."

"Theo," Julia said, "Please try to work on a spell to make me able to understand what the hell they're talking about."

"Of course, dear," Theo said, "I'll get right on it. Afterwards, Ranma, I want to know about this Anything Goes Ideology."

"I'll have to ask the old coot," Ranma said, "It's his decision."

"Ah!" Ryoga said, "I hate spells!"

"Good," Julia said, "It worked."

"It makes my flesh crawl," Ryoga whined.

"Shut up, Ryoga," Ranma said.

"I hate you all," Ryoga muttered, sarcastically.

"Now," Theo said, "Have you asked Happosai?"

"Um… no," Ranma said, "Haven't found him yet."

"Found him?" Julia asked, "Where would he be?"

"More than likely in one of the girls' underwear drawers," Ryoga scoffed, "Damn perverted old fool."

The room went silent for a moment. Brittany, Brianna, Julia, and Gina all dashed towards their rooms.

There was a small explosion.

"Guess he was in Brianna's room," Ranma said.

"No," Theo said, sweating slightly, "That wasn't one of Brianna's explosives. That was one of the few that Gina has."

A rather crispy and bruised Happosai was dropped onto the dinning room table.

"…owie," Happosai said.

"Wow," Ranma said, "For one who's immune to heat, you still get toasted."

"It doesn't hurt," Happosai said, weakly.

"Really," Ranma poked Happosai with her pinky finger.

"AIIIE!" Happosai was suddenly clinging to the ceiling. All the crispiness disappeared suddenly.

Happosai's grip failed, and he slammed back into the table, where he laid on his back twitching.

"Now, what is the Anything Goes Ideology?" Theo asked.

"It… it…" Happosai said before his head slumped back, his mouth open wide, "_Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep, this number has_ _been temporarily disconnected, please try back at a later date._"

The freaky thing was, was that Happosai hadn't moved his mouth to say the last part.

He was unconscious.

"…Okay," Ranma said, "He's never done THAT before."

A pause.

"The Anything Goes Ideology is a martial arts concept," Ranma said, "by finding the center of two opposites, and learning them both with your mind and body, one gains the power of the opposites. Such as hot and cold. Ryoga and I are centered on that point already, and have the ability to use the forces of heat and the lack thereof as weapons."

"Also, if you mix the two opposites, you get lightning," Ryoga chirped.

"Really?" Ranma asked, "I always get wind."

"Probably different amounts of them," Ryoga told her.

"Cool," Ranma said.

"Um… let's get back on subject," Theo said, "This sounds almost like Magick, but you say it's martial arts?"

"No, not really," Shampoo said (talking in Chinese now), "How did you explain it, Ranma? Every species has these abilities, it's just that they don't know how to use them?"

"Yeah," Ranma said, "Every species is effected by the powers of hot and cold, and when you center you mind and body with them, you gain the ability to control them. Watch."

Ranma placed her hand on the table. The table started to steam slightly as frost and ice suddenly spread from Ranma's hand, freezing the table.

"Whoa," Brittany touched it, "Ahh!" She yanked her hand back.

"What?" Gina asked, reaching for the ice as well. Brittany grabbed her hand.

"Don't," Brittany said, "That's so cold it burned."

"Sorry 'bout that," Ranma said, "I could have heated the table, but it would have burned."

"What other things are you 'centered' on?" Julia asked.

"Ryoga and I are centered on the same things," Ranma said, "Sense of reality, our physical self, our mental self, our curses, and hot and cold. Shampoo is centered on her physical and mental self, and her curse."

"What're your curses?" Gina asked, turning to the only werewolf present.

"I…" Ryoga said, blushing slightly, "I… um… turned into a pig. I'm never gonna change back into a pig. I hate the pig."

"A small housecat," Shampoo said, answering the same question.

"Shampoo hopes that one day she can turn into a hybrid form as well," Ranma said, chuckling.

"Ranma…" Shampoo said, "I just think it's cool."

"That may be true," Ryoga smirked, "But you also want to get into Ranma's pants."

Ryoga was slammed to the ground by a large Chinese Bonbori (mace) hitting his face.

"Ow," Ryoga said.

"So that explains it," Theo said, "Why you're bodies lack muscles and why you're aura is so strong. You've centered them."

"Yep," Ranma said, "When we centered out minds and bodies, we did it physically and mentally. Our bodies lost their tone and muscles, but are no weaker. Our muscles don't need to grow physically, so our limits skyrocketed. Our aura was affected by our mental center."

"Yeah," Ryoga said, sitting up, "Plus it gave us a few other things. Like a photographic memory."

"Even better healing skills," Ranma said.

"And harder bones and skin," Shampoo added.

"Hmmm," Theo said, "Then may I ask for more demonstrations. I would like to see what else you could do."

"Um…" Ryoga said, "Sure."

"Wind Cannon!" Ranma said. A small twisted burst from her hands, rocketing towards Ryoga.

"Thunder Clap!" Ryoga did the same as Ranma, but instead of wind, a blast of electricity flew out of his hands. The two blasts connected and canceled each other out in a large chaotic scene of natural energies.

Ranma's form shimmered slightly, and a series of three small shockwaves echoed through the backyard, making several trees bend away as the waves washed over them.

Everyone blinked in shock as Ranma traveled the distance between her and Ryoga at three times the speed of sound. They were even more surprised when Ryoga ended up catching Ranma as she tripped over a blade of grass.

Ranma ended up on the ground, lying on top of Ryoga. She quickly grasped her foot.

"Damn!" Ranma said, rolling off of Ryoga, "Ah, my foot."

"What's wrong?" Brittany asked, running up to them.

"My ankles broken," Ranma said.

"How did that happen?" Brittany said.

"I went too fast," Ranma said, "My foot hit the grass too fast for the grass to give leeway, and it was like kicking a steel wall."

"You broke your ankle," Ryoga laughed, "because of grass?"

"Shut up," Ranma said. Brittany helped the shorter werecheetah stand and limp into the house. Ryoga stood up, and walked after them, grumbling.

Theo and Julia just sat there in shock.

Julia's thoughts…

"How could someone be THAT fast? No one's ever traveled that fast before. And that recklessly. Ranma will need training to control his newfound speed. His abilities are now several times more than he can handle."

Theo's thoughts…

"Their moves, it draws not only upon their own power, but from the powers that are directly linked to the centers they have. That's why their movements and actions have a Magickal feel to them. If they became mages, they would probably quickly become the strongest in all of both worlds."

"Whoa!" Ranma yelled. Brittany had caught her in female form, and was now dragging the werecheetah through the mansion, "Where are we going!"

"Shhh!" Brittany said, "Quiet. I don't want my parents to know that I'm leaving."

"Why not?" Ranma asked.

"We're going shopping," Brittany said, her eyes started sparkling.

"S-shopping?" Ranma asked, slightly freaked out.

"What better way for sisters to get to know each other," Brittany brought the smaller werecheetah up to her side.

"I'm not a…" Ranma blinked, "Um…"

"Come on!" Brittany said as she carried Ranma out the door. They both shifted back to human mode as Brittany ran. Ranma got the chance to touch the ground as Brittany slowed.

"Like it?" Brittany asked.

"I don't like frilly stuff very much," Ranma said.

"Eh, to each her own," Brittany said.

"Spandex?" Ranma asked.

"Yeah," Brittany said, "It attracts a lot of cute boys."

"Oh, okay," Ranma said, looking away.

"You want a pair?" Brittany asked.

"What?" Ranma asked.

"A pair," Brittany said again.

"No," Ranma shook her head, "No, I don't want to attar… well, maybe that one."

"Honey," Theo said, "Where's my credit card?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Julia responded, sipping her lemonade.

"I sense a disturbance in the force," Cologne said.

Ryoga and Brianna busted out laughing.

"Shut up."

Ranma and Brittany walked into the house, each carrying many bags and packages, chatting and laughing. They stopped cold as they noticed Theo staring at them with a very annoyed expression.

Gina, who was walking through, glanced at them. Brittany and Ranma both had at least twelve bags.

Oh no, it's genetic.

"Hmm," Happosai said, "It seems that Ranma had finally gotten around to expressing his female side."

"He wasn't before?" Cologne asked.

"No," Happosai said, "He learned the physical differences, but mentally, he hasn't known how to be a girl until he met Brittany. She is a close relative that is a girl, so Ranma is subconsciously being affected by her."

"Ooo," Ryoga's voice came from where he and Brianna were sitting on the couch, actually doing a good Yoda impression, "Very strange it is."

He was rewarded by Cologne bopping him.

Brianna busted out laughing again.

"Ow, ow ow, ow, ow," Brittany said. She and Ranma had locked hands, and Ranma was currently applying a sense of cold to her hands, "That stings."

"Imagine having to stay in a tub of ice water for three hours," Ranma said, "You have to concentrate on how it feels, and how your mind registers it."

"H-how do I know when I've got it?" Brittany asked.

"You'll know," Ranma said, "I'm not going to increase the temperature, and since you body isn't recognizing this as an injury from a werecreature, it won't do any lasting damage. When it doesn't feel cold anymore, tell me."

A while later, Ranma was thinking about what Theo had done. He had scolded them, and then had somehow grounded Ranma as well as Brittany. They couldn't leave the house for a few days, and that's why Ranma was helping Brittany center herself.

Ranma stopped thinking about how in the world Theo grounded her as well, when she saw frost gathering on Brittany's clothing and the bed that they were sitting on. Her breath was now visible.

Brittany opened her eyes.

"It doesn't feel cold anymore," She said.

"Good, now we do hot," Ranma said, "Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Brittany said.

Ranma's hand stopped glowing blue, and started glowing red-orange.

"Ow, god, that stings!" Brittany said loudly.

Theo knocked on the door a few hours later. He thought that the two had enough time to stew in Brittany's room.

"Yes?" Brittany asked.

"You two can come out now," He said, opening the door.

"Sweet!" Brittany charged through the door past Theo with Ranma on her heels.

Theo glanced at the retreating forms of the two furry girls. Brittany… felt different.

"Wee!" Brittany yelled, sliding along on the ice that she had made, "This is fun!"

"Try this," Ranma smirked, "A little cold with a lotta hot equals wind." She suddenly shot up into the air, her hands glowing a bright red-purple. The wind coming from her propelled her up into the air.

Ranma was flying.

Brittany looked at her hands, and concentrated. Her hands started to glow the same red-purple as wind suddenly rocketed from them. She angled the wind down and zipped up after Ranma.

Ryoga and Brianna were watching. Ryoga was amused at the two sisters zipping around in the air. Brianna was drooling, for the first time, not because of a boy.

"Must…" Brianna said, "Must learn… bwahahahaha…"

Ryoga, now used to Brianna's 'episodes', merely glanced at her.

"I AM THE GODDESS OF THUNDER!" Brittany's voice called. A huge electrical blast flew down and scorched the ground near where they were sitting.

Although not thought possible, Brianna started to drool more.

She grabbed Ryoga, and pulled him into the house.

Séance and Genn, who had been hiding, blinked as Brianna, a werecheetah, dragged Ryoga, a werewolf, into the house.

"I feel sorry for him," Séance said.

"Me too," Genn said, "But better him than me."

"Agreed."

"Teach me!" Brianna yelled.

"What?" Ryoga asked.

"I wanna be able to fly too," Brianna said.

"Whoa, whoa, wait," Ryoga said, "Are you sure? I… I don't think you're dad would be very partial to it. And I don't like your dad when he's angry. He's worse than Tendo."

"Who's Tendo?" Brianna asked.

"He had a demon head ability too," Ryoga said, "The entire family are idiots, and I used to really like one of them. But… your dads demon head is fifty times worse."

"I'll ask Daddy, no prob!" Brianna charged from her room.

Genn and Séance watched Brianna fly from the room, and run down the hall. The door was open to reveal Ryoga, still fully clothed, looking slightly confused.

"The world is ending, you know that right?" Séance said.

"E-yup," Genn said.

"What?" Theo said, "Ranma did WHAT!"

"Theo, you'd know if you had just looked outside the window," Julia said, "Brittany and Ranma have been flying around the sky for a while now."

"Flying?" Theo asked. He looked outside the window, "I don't see them."

Suddenly, Ranma zipped by the window, about three feet away. Brittany followed suit.

Now, zipping past the window wasn't much, being as this window was on the first floor, but Ranma and Brittany were going UP.

"…Brittany and Ranma are flying," Theo said.

"If Brianna wants to go through the training, let her," Julia said, "The effects are, like you said, wild and nearly uncontrolled. The only thing that seems to limit them is their imaginations."

"GODDESS OF THUNDER, BWAHAHAHA!"

Another bolt of lightning almost hit the house. Theo opened the window and yelled at Brittany.

"NO MORE LIGHTNING NEAR OR IN THE HOUSE, YOUNG LADY!" Theo yelled.

Brittany paused in midair, crossing her arms.

"Oh, alright," Brittany said.

Ranma zipped past her.

"TAG!"

Brittany zipped after Ranma.

"Was… was that just Brittany…?" Gina asked.

"Yes, she was flying," Brianna said, "And can Ryoga teach me?"

Theo sighed.

"Fine…" Theo said, "But there are going to be rules."

"Rules shmules!" Brianna said loudly, "I don't care as long as I fly!"

She bolted from the room.

Theo sighed, and walked into the bathroom to get some Advil. Julia chuckled, and then looked to Gina.

"I don't suppose you want to fly too?" Julia asked.

"Um…" Gina said, "Yeah, I do, but I want to know why my Lab equipment keeps going insane."

"That would be Brittany and Ranma," Julia said, "They keep throwing around lightning and stuff like th…"

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Gina laughed as she rocketed out of the room at a speed that rivals Brittany's.

Julia stared at the space that used to be occupied by her daughter. Of her three daughters, Gina was probably the only one she HADN'T thought of doing that.

**Meanwhile, in Nerima**

"Hello?" Nabiki answered the cell phone in her pocket.

"Hello, Nabiki Tendo," A voice called.

"Who is this?" Nabiki said, losing her cool, "How did you get this number?"

"You may call me Pee-wee," the voice said, "And I want to give you a proposition."

"Sorry, not interested," Nabiki said as she reached to hang up.

"Even if it would allow you to get back at Ranma Saotome?" Pee-wee said.

Nabiki froze.

"Continue," Nabiki said.

"I'm glad you are interested," Pee-wee said, "I've heard that Ranma and his friend Ryoga are monsters. If there is any way for you to get a substantial amount of their DNA, I would like it very much."

"DNA, huh?" Nabiki said, leaning back, "Should be easy enough."

"Good," Pee-wee said, "You shall gather everyone who wants to hurt or maim Ranma Saotome. Have them all meet on the Furinkan school doorstep tomorrow night at midnight. Bring the DNA of anyone you know that has 'special abilities'."

"What's with you and DNA?" Nabiki chanced the question.

"Nabiki," Pee-wee said, "I am a scientist. DNA and genetic research are my major fields. Having DNA from people that have," Pee-wee cleared his throat, "SPECIAL ABILITIES would help my research greatly. Especially from a werecheetah such as Ranma and a werewolf such as Ryoga."

"May I ask HOW you intend to help us get back at Ranma," Nabiki asked.

"Now, now Nabiki," Pee-wee said, "I intend to give you the power to personally get back at him, as long as you leave them alive."

"Them?" Nabiki asked.

"Ranma's family," Pee-wee said, "He has a sister, who is also a beast. The entire family is, how do you say, unnatural. As long as I get live subjects to test on, I do not care what you do to them."

"L-live subjects?" Nabiki asked.

"Surely you don't believe evil beings such as Ranma and Ryoga should be allowed to walk around in the public, praying upon families such as yours whenever they wish," Pee-wee said.

"Fine," Nabiki said, "You have a deal."

"Good, gather everyone, and bring the DNA to Furinkan at midnight tomorrow," Pee-wee chuckled, "Till tomorrow, Tendo-san."

Nabiki listened as the oddly voiced man hung up the phone.

"Nabiki," Kasumi asked, "Who was that?"

"Nobody of consequence," Nabiki said, "Do you know where Akane is?"

"I believe she's in her room again," Kasumi told her, "I'm worried about her."

"Don't worry," Nabiki smiled, "I have some news that is sure to make her _very_ happy."


	10. Calm Before The Storm

**Atlanta, Georgia**

"Aaaah!" Ryoga said, running as fast as he could (safely) through the house, with the expression of fear on his face.

Ranma, in his male form today, was suddenly beside him, running at the same speed. Only Ranma looked like he was jogging and he was going backwards. Ranma could tell Ryoga was currently fearing for his life. His wolf's tail was fizzed out and his pupils were really, really small.

"What up, Ryoga?" Ranma asked as they flew out into the yard.

"There's an insane cat woman chasing me!" Ryoga said.

Ranma glanced at who had rocketed out of the house.

Brianna was going about twice as fast as Ryoga.

"Oh, Ryoga!" She shouted in a loud singsong voice, her voice suddenly turned angry, loud, and downright scary, "GET BACK HERE!"

"AIIIE!" Ryoga put on as much speed as he could, screwing the fact that he might kill himself.

Ranma had tripped and fallen on his ass when Brianna had turned from her normal peaceful self to an evil demon. Ranma watched, stunned, as she blew past him.

Brittany landed beside him.

"Wh…" Ranma said, "What was that?"

"I told you, Brianna is a raving nymphomaniac," Brittany said, "I believe she's fallen in love with Ryoga."

"Why's that?" Ranma asked, standing, his own tail fizzed out.

"Because Genn and Séance haven't turned up pale and unconscious in the house in days," Brittany said.

Ranma stared at her.

"What?"

Ryoga turned up the next morning. Genn and Séance were looking at him with an expression of obvious respect. Ranma and Brittany were also staring at them. Even Theo and Julia occasionally glanced at them.

Mainly because Ryoga only looked slightly dazed, while Brianna had fallen asleep on her pancakes.

"You are a greater man than I have ever known," Séance said.

"Ranma?" Brittany's voice called out, "You out here?"

"Oh, hey Brittany," Ranma said.

"What are you doing out here?" Brittany said as she climbed out the window.

They were both sitting on the roof of the house, looking out over the city.

"I always did this back in Japan," Ranma said, "When I couldn't sleep."

"It is pretty," Brittany said as she sat next to her brother.

A silence fell over them.

"You know," Brittany said, "Something's been on my mind."

"What?" Ranma asked.

"What was your life like?" Brittany asked, "You know, before you lost it that day."

Ranma sighed. He knew that he hadn't really told anyone about his life with Genma and the Tendos. The others never told. No one had really asked, they just understood that it wasn't pleasant.

"Well," Ranma said, "Right after Genma and Nodoka adopted me, Genma started to train me in martial arts. That's his entire life. Nodoka was like a friend to me. I never really looked to her as a mother, and she never to me as a son. I was her friend."

"Then, that bastard Genma took me away from my home, to go on a training trip that took ten years. It was horrible. The Saotome style Martial Arts depends on deception and half assed training methods to teach a student as fast as possible and as thoroughly as possible. I hate to admit it, but the only reason why I survived this long is because of him."

"I arrived at the Tendo's about two months after Jusenkyo, and it got a thousand times worse. Akane beat me. Nabiki robbed me blind constantly. Kasumi, my god she's a nice girl, but she's so incredibly dense that she would smile through a nuclear blast. Soun was a crybaby who whined all the time. Kuno was an idiot who wanted to kill the male me, and make love to the female me. Kodachi, his sister, was the opposite. The Principle had a pineapple fetish and the urge to cut everyone's hair. Shampoo was… well, she's not anymore, but she WAS after me constantly. Cologne was occasionally my teacher, occasionally the bane of my existence. Mousse was a blind obsessive freak that tried time after time to attacked me. Ukyo was clingy and, although my friend, treated me like a possession. Happosai is still a perverted freak. And Genma made it all worse, constantly."

"I could go on all night about what happened," Ranma said, "Let's just say that it got worse. Akane was ALWAYS angry, even when I was trying to save her ass from dying all those times. Even after a killed a goddamn GOD for her."

"You what?" Brittany asked.

"The Phoenix God Saffron of Jusendo, the water source of Jusenkyo," Ranma said, "A big guy with wings that could throw around fireballs bigger than this house as easily as breathing."

"He was THAT powerful?" Brittany watched Ranma nod, "Then… how the hell did you kill him?"

"Because he was weak, at least physically," Ranma said, "He had never been through training, so any hit I gave him hurt him like hell. Of course, being magical, any hit he gave ME hurt like hell too. And he regenerated, I didn't."

"How'd you beat him?" Brittany asked.

"Akane had been dehydrated so bad that her body had turned into a doll, she couldn't move very much, but at the last second, just as a fireball was hurling at us, she hurled herself away from me. Luckily it caused a whole to appear in the fireball, allowing me to see Saffron throw it. The only reason why I survived the attack was because I had a staff that could be used to freeze things, Saffron had its brother, the staff that could be used to burn things. I froze myself early on, so my body was abnormally cold."

"Abnormally cold?"

"I froze myself in the middle of one of the fireballs, so I didn't freeze myself solid," Ranma said, "But even with that hole, the last possible way to win, I didn't have any strength left. The fireball would have most definitely had killed me."

"How'd you survive?" Brittany asked.

"I transformed," Ranma said, "My strength came back enough for me to release my final attack. I used my cold aura to shoot a blast of frigid air through the hole in the fireball. It hit his square in the chest, and impaled him with ice shards. I have to admit, that Saffron looked really scared when he saw my hybrid form."

"Scared?"

"I don't know why," Ranma said, "But he looked absolutely horrified. That's why he fired the last blast. He was screaming like a girl when he did it. When I transformed, that's when Akane flew out of my hand."

"Did she die?" Brittany asked.

"Almost," Ranma said, "As soon as I could, I started looking for the water that could hydrate her again. That's when Cologne saw my hybrid form. I managed to go human again and save her. And she actually got better. She didn't get angry or anything until two days after getting home, when the wedding fiasco happened."

"…what?" Brittany asked, "Wedding fiasco?"

"Yeah," Ranma shook his head, "It was a nightmare. Nodoka almost got killed. I was so pissed that I almost transformed right there, but I managed not too. And after that, Akane went back to beating me up for no apparent reason and hating me. She even got worse. She'd flip at me for being in the same room as her. Two months later, I lost it."

Brittany sat there, thinking for a moment. Ranma just stared out over the horizon.

"Ranma isn't you real name," Brittany said.

"Huh?" Ranma asked, "Wha… how'd you know?"

"Because," Brittany asked, "When we were first connected, I knew who you were. When I heard your name, it didn't sound right."

"Well, you're right," Ranma said, "Genma was stuck on the fact that I would be a proper Japanese boy, even though I don't look at all Japanese. He forced Nodoka and I to have my name changed."

"What was your real name?" Brittany asked.

"My true name is Rhys."

"Very good," a man of short stature said, "How is it going?"

"The DNA was very sufficient," A bald woman said, "Splicing the DNA into these new people will be quite a challenge for you, Pee-wee."

"As long as it gets me living werecreatures, I don't care how hard it is."

Ranma suddenly spasmed. Everyone looked at him.

"You okay?" Brittany asked, eating another piece of chicken.

"Right now, yeah," Ranma said, "It's something that I developed on the training trip. Something bad is about to happen. Something… really bad."

"Are you sure?" The bald woman asked.

"Yes," Pee-wee said, "They might not be the most sane of people, but they are some of my greatest creations. They are loyal, and they will follow my orders exactly."

"How do you know?" The bald woman asked.

"Because of the law of infected werecreatures," Pee-wee smirked, "Those that are turned into werecreatures must follow the commands of the one that infected them. I have genetically coded them and myself so that the law makes them obey me."

"ALERT"

"ALERT"

Ranma and Brittany glanced up at the speaker that was blaring at them.

"What's that?" Ranma asked.

"The warning," Brittany said, "We have unwanted visitors."

"Pee-wee," Brittany said as she walked into the back yard.

"Hello again, Brittany," Pee-wee said.

"What do you want?" Brittany asked.

"Do you really have to ask?" Pee-wee said, "And this time, I will not fail."

"Oh no," Ranma said, glancing at the people in front of him.

"A-Akane?" Ryoga stuttered.

Standing before them was a collection of people from Nerima. Akane, Nabiki, Genma, and Soun stood there, next to Mousse, Kuno, Kodachi, and even Pantyhose Taro. And none of them looked normal.

Akane was a hulk. She still looked human, but her hair was a strikingly less blue and more brown, and she was looked twice as strong and twice as fast. She had an odd tail behind her and her hair had odd patterns in it.

Nabiki was taller, but lithe. Her hair was a new blonde color. She even had a cheetahs' tail.

Genma and Soun didn't look any different, but they definitely felt different. They both now reeked of power. And their expressions were rather… disturbing.

Mousse was no longer wearing his long shirt. He wasn't wearing a shirt at all. All over his body, there were several guns and knives covering him. His eyes were now completely black, he had a wolf's tail behind him.

Kuno now held a long katana, that, to all the werecreatures there, glowed a slight blue, signifying the presence of silver. He, like all the others, wore an odd outfit. Around his neck was a metal collar.

Kodachi looked normal, but if you looked closely, you could see metal patches on her skin.

Taro was in his cursed form. But he looked very scary. Very… very scary. His cursed form was now twice as horrible, with tubes and metal running all over it.

"Meet my new friends," Pee-wee said.

All of the Nerima Locals dashed forwards at one.

Chaos ensued.


	11. The Storm

Most of the attackers immediately swarmed towards Ranma. Kodachi went strait after Brittany, and Mousse was shooting at them. His shots were well aimed and Ranma had to avoid at least ten of them already.

Brittany was hard pressed to fend off Kodachi. Kodachi had gained some serious speed and power. Brittany managed to get an opening large enough for her to fire a blast of her new abilities at Kodachi. Brittany zipped back a few feet, her feet leaving trenches in the ground as the air blast slammed into Kodachi, sending her back.

Brittany sighed as Kodachi spun and landed gracefully before charging again. Brittany fended off a few more attacks when a blue streak appeared two inches from her nose. A silver bullet.

Brittany stumbled as she realized what had just happened. Kodachi had slammed her hand into Brittany's stomach. Brittany coughed and stepped back.

Brittany growled and started to glow slightly. She raced at Kodachi, electricity arching over her arms.

Kodachi screamed as the metal that ran through her conducted the electricity. Several of the metal plates upon her snapped open, releasing a gas out into the air.

Brittany screamed as the gas burned her throat and skin. She raced away from Kodachi, coughing and gasping. Julia ran up to her.

Ranma, Ryoga, and Shampoo were now fighting all those that were left. Shampoo was fighting Kuno, dodging around the swipes with the katana. Shampoo had definitely improved in the past few months, but Kuno was now showing uncanny speed.

Shampoo moved to block the blade by catching it in-between her hands. She succeeded, but soon afterwards her eyes went wide and she pulled her hands away, screaming. She buckled to the ground as she gazed at the burn marks on her hand. Shampoo turned back to Kuno to see him raising his katana again. Shampoo clutched her burned hands up close to her, and stepped away. Kuno followed.

Kuno's blade looked as if it was glowing with power. Shampoo felt herself become afraid, as if some inner fear was bubbling to the surface. She gritted her teeth, and ordered the ground underneath her and Kuno to flash freeze. She hopped over the blast of ice, and dashed towards Kuno, her hands still clutched in pain.

Kuno looked down and tried to remove his feet the ice. He actually got his right foot out of the ice before he saw Shampoo tackle him. The sword scraped up against her upper arm, causing her to yell out in pain again, before she slammed her elbow into Kuno's face. He was unconscious like Kodachi.

Shampoo buckled, and fell over onto the ground, landing to Kuno's left. The pain was too great, and she also fell unconscious.

Ryoga was against Nabiki, Soun, and Mousse. Nabiki was showing skills that Ryoga would have never though possible for someone that didn't know martial arts. She was fast as almighty hell, almost as fast as he was himself. Soun now had a long spear that was definitely silver. And Mousse was unloading clip after clip of bullets in their direction. Nabiki and Soun never even came close to getting hit with a bullet, but Ryoga had already been scratched by a few. The silver hurt like almighty fuck.

Ryoga avoided the spearhead and caught the shaft. The wood of the shaft instantly burst into flames. Soun didn't flinch; he simply dashed forward and grabbed the spearhead and began slashing at Ryoga.

Ryoga felt at least twenty blows land of his back. He staggered, but whirled around and caught Nabiki in the jaw, leaving three long slashes from Ryoga's claws. She flew backwards, impacting Mousse and knocking them both down.

Ryoga felt a sizzle as the spearhead almost hit him. He ducked low and swept Soun's legs out from under him. Soun recovered almost instantly, but was met with a fierce jab to the face as soon as he stood again.

Ryoga dodged a few more bullets, and started making his way towards Mousse. Mousse and Ryoga both staggered when the ground suddenly started shaking because of Akane. Ryoga used Mousse's stunned state to open up his physical center. He appeared in front of Mousse instantly (he nearly tripped twice). And slammed his hand into his stomach. Mousse rocked back, but stayed standing.

Mousse whipped out a machine gun and pointed at him at near point blank range. Ryoga swallowed hard, and concentrated on his center of reality. The bullets, inches away from hitting him, shimmered and disappeared, the ethereal form of the bullets went through Ryoga and disappeared after going out of his back.

Having so much silver in his 'pocket' made his body slightly numb and slowed his reaction time. Dumping them out wouldn't be good either, because it would create a large pile of silver in the backyard. Mousse dropped the machine gun and whipped out a silver scimitar that was strapped to his back. Ryoga grimaced and tried to ignore the pain as it raked across his furry left arm.

Ryoga attacked, his hand glowing red. It went through the silver sword, luckily too fast for too much of the now molten silver to get on him. Mousse must have been shocked, but his face showed no emotion. Ryoga slammed his foot into Mousse's stomach, sending him backwards, into a tree, and into unconsciousness.

The silver was taking affect on Ryoga, and he started to lose his strength. His hand was covered partway with molten silver. He ordered it to freeze, and he forced it off of his hand. He strained to remain conscious, but now he could only sit and watch.

Theo dashed over to where Ryoga was kneeling on the grass. Julia had already brought Brittany and Shampoo inside. Brianna and Gina were somehow keeping Pee-wee, the bald woman (Zelda), and the ninja guy (Daishi) occupied.

Theo looked over the battle, looking at everyone's auras. From almost all of the people from Nerima, there was a small tendril of power going from their heads to Pee-wee.

Pee-wee was controlling them directly. Theo's eyes narrowed.

Ranma dodged the attacks from Genma and Akane. Taro was only a bit faster than he used to be, so he wasn't the first on Ranma's list. Akane was fifty times stronger, but Genma was still the most dangerous. Akane's face showed no emotion, but Genma and Taro were definitely smiling.

"Foolish boy," Genma said, "You cannot beat me now even with your unholy powers."

"I'm not unholy, you idiot!" Ranma said, dodging Genma's incredibly fast attacks, "I'm a werecheetah!"

Ranma was suddenly grabbed from behind by Taro. Genma took this opportunity to slam his fist into Ranma's stomach rapidly. Ranma grunted with every hit, but didn't cry out.

Ranma opened his center of cold, and Taro had to release him or get his arms frozen. Ranma landed, and opened another center.

A sonic boom echoed out from the yard as Ranma flowed towards Genma with a visible afterimage following him. Genma grunted as he was hurled across the yard by Ranma's hit. Genma managed to land on his feet, digging two long trenches in the ground.

Genma stared at Ranma. The energy given off by Ranma was almost like the energy that Happosai himself had.

Genma didn't move for a long time.

For those that are wondering where Happosai, Cologne, and Nodoka are, they are on the sidelines. Happosai and Cologne watched, making sure that if they were needed, they would be there. Happosai glanced at Pee-wee, and suddenly disappeared.

Ranma dodged the huge attack that came from Akane. The attacks made the ground shake, knocking everyone off balance. Ranma, being in the air at the time, burst towards Taro using his wind. Taro blinked at him.

Taro was suddenly met with a blur full of fur and really sharp glowing red claws. The tubes covering Taro were sliced open; green and blue liquids burst from them. Taro howled as his body suddenly started to spasm. Ranma could sense the raw life energy now flowing from the liquids. Taro opened a bottle and dumped the hot water contents over himself.

He shifted back into human form. The liquid coming from the tubes stopped.

Akane suddenly cried out and fell to the ground, grasping her head in pain.

"What the hell happened to you, Taro?" Ranma asked.

"Stupid fem-boy," Taro said, "They gave me power. Even without my cursed form, I can kick you're ass, cat."

"Hmph," Ranma said, "Try."

Taro charged at Ranma.

Ranma didn't move. Taro punched his head. Taro blinked as his fist went through Ranma's head, causing the figure to waver and disappear. Taro howled as pain burst through him from behind. Ranma, with his feet braced on Taro's back, was holding several of the tubes, making him effectively stand on Taro's back. Taro swiped at Ranma, trying to get him off his back.

"Careful now," Ranma said.

Ranma summoned his wind, and blasted Taro into the ground with it. Taro was knocked unconscious as his head struck a solid rock.

Ranma landed, and smirked.

That is, until he realize something.

"Where the hell is Genma?" Ranma asked himself.

"BRITTANY!" Julia's voice called.

Ranma swiftly turned around. He noted that all of the fighters besides Zelda, Julia, and Genma were either unconscious or in no state to fight. Gina and Brianna weren't hurt, but they were both firmly connected together in Zelda's grip. Genma was holding Brittany, a silver knife just below her chin. Theo and Julia didn't dare move.

Brittany was hardly breathing because of Kodachi's gas, and she didn't have enough strength to get away from Genma.

"Genma…" Ranma growled, "Release my sister… NOW."

"Shut up, boy," Genma yelled, "I will not have my son a monster!"

"And how do you expect me to be a human," Ranma said, "I was NEVER a human!"

"You shall return with me to Nerima," Genma said, "You shall never turn into… whatever you are again, and you WILL marry Akane, or I shall kill her."

"I will NEVER marry Akane!" Ranma yelled, "And if you do one thing to hurt Brittany, I will destroy you."

"You cannot defeat me," Genma said, "My abilities have increased fifty fold thanks to that brat over there."

Genma motioned to the unconscious Peewee. He also touched the knife to Brittany's neck. She yipped as the silver burned her.

Ranma's feline eyes narrowed, and his form shimmered.

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" Ranma shouted in rage. A series of three sonic bursts echoed through the yard, symbolizing Ranma's usage of his top speed, which was about 1080miles per hour. Ranma didn't trip, luckily, and Genma suddenly disappeared.

Ranma, now holding Genma, used his center of speed as he rocketed strait up into the air. When he was at least a few miles up, and stopped.

"Genma," Ranma said, glaring at Genma, whom he had by the neck, "You will go back to Nerima, and you shall leave me and my family alone."

Genma stared at where he was and at Ranma. Ranma's furry face was quite scary. And where did the boy learn to fly?

"Wha…" Genma asked, "What are you!"

"I am Rhys, son of Xerxes," the boy said, "I am a werecheetah. I am a student of the Anything Goes Ideology and the Amazonian Wu Shu. I am also the man who holds your life in his hands. Decide quickly, Genma Saotome, and decide well. Your life depends on it."

Genma swallowed hard. He hadn't heard the name Rhys since the day at the orphanage.

"Well?" Rhys said, "Quickly now."

Ranma shook Genma around. Genma whimpered. He was pretty sure the fall wouldn't _kill_ him, but that's the best-case scenario. If he stayed at this height, the cold would kill him, and Ranma didn't seem the least bit bothered by the searing cold that now numbed Genma's skin.

"Too late," Rhys dropped him. Genma yelled as he suddenly started hurtling towards the ground. Genma managed to stop flipping over and over and look at the ground.

Best-case scenario be damned, he was dead.

About ten seconds before he hit the ground, he suddenly stopped as someone grabbed his collar.

"Do we have an agreement?" Rhys' voice said from behind him. They were still about a hundred feet up.

"Fine, fine, just put me down!" Genma whimpered.

"Okay," Rhys casually tossed Genma to the side. Genma landed harshly on the room of the mansion, before rolling off and landing on Taro's unconscious form.

Rhys floated down to the ground. He saw that Brittany was still choking. Zelda was also unconscious (and extra crispy) thanks Brianna and her explosion fetish.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"The gas that she inhaled had silver particles in it," Theo said, "Gina, take her to the lab and get her patched up. We'll bring the others."

"Ahead of you," Julia ran inside, carrying Ryoga.

Rhys flashed over to where Shampoo lay, next to Kuno's unconscious form. Ranma could plainly see that the katana had silver in it. He then saw that Shampoo had blade shaped burn marks on her hand.

Rhys slowly picked up Shampoo, and carried her into the house.

"Why would Shampoo have burn marks?" Rhys asked, "She isn't a werecreature, she's a human."

"Or she used to be," Theo said, "Was you ability to infect others sealed away?"

"Of course it was," Rhys said, "My folks did it when I was three. Ryoga's too, I asked him when we started training with Shampoo. There was no way we infected her."

"Hmm…" Nodoka said, "Maybe she turned herself into a werecreature?"

"Huh?" Rhys asked, "How could she do that? No human was ever able to do that."

"Happosai," Nodoka said, "You came up with the Anything Goes Ideology, correct?"

"Yes," Happosai said, "But there were many other people all throughout history that came up with similar ideas. The Anything Goes Ideology is the only one left alive and the only one that involves martial arts. Why do you ask?"

"Julia, tell me," Nodoka asked, "What is the origin of the werecreatures species?"

"Uh…" Julia said, "No one really knows actually."

"Ranma had said earlier that Shampoo wanted to try to form a hybrid form by mixing her curse and her human form," Nodoka said, "The center between her animal and human form."

"Nodoka," Rhys said, "Please don't call me that anymore. Genma almost killed Brittany, I don't want anything to do with him anymore. Call me by the name my mother gave me, Rhys."

Nodoka nodded, smiling slightly.

"I see what you're getting at," Theo said, "You believe that werecreatures originated from people with training in centering themselves, much like the Anything Goes style. Curses that turn one into an animal have been around for a long, long time. Finding a center between the two forms may be how werecreatures were created."

"Yes," Happosai said, "It does make sense. The reason why werecreatures can cause lasting damage to each other because of their wealth of spiritual energies, the same with magic. That still doesn't explain the weakness to silver."

"That just seems to be a coincidence," Theo said, "Silver does have many inlaid magical properties. That's why many magical artifacts has at least some silver in it."

"When she heals, we will find out if Shampoo is still human," Cologne said, "Although I do hope she still is. Being a werecreature, it's going to cause a massive unrest in the Joketsozuko amazons."

"Yeah, didn't Mousse freak out when he saw me?" Rhys asked.

"Yes," Cologne said, "About a fifth the amazons from Joketsozuko are descended from were-hunters. Mousse is one of them."


	12. DANCE FOR ME!

"B-but…" Shampoo said, "I… I can't be… That means I can't be an Amazon anymore…"

Shampoo and Ryoga's wounds were easily fixed. Brittany's wasn't because of it being internal, and the whole fact that the silver would be hard to get out.

"No one foresaw this, Shampoo," Rhys said, "It's not your fault."

"But everyone at home will hate me," Shampoo said, starting to cry, "I can't ever go back."

"No," Cologne said, "I believe that one day you shall. The Amazons nearly worship Ranma… I'm sorry, Rhys. He killed Saffron. They are bound by our traditions to honor and respect him. As a hero of the Joketsozuko, he cannot be attacked without enormous repercussions, even if he is a werecreature."

"I'll help you through this, Shampoo," Rhys said, "Don't worry. It's not so bad."

Shampoo looked up at his furry face. She smiled slightly. In the back of her mind, she was happy and giddy, but she was still rather surprised that she had spontaneously changed species.

"I…" Shampoo said, she was wearing some of Brittany's clothes, "Wow…"

Shampoo was looking over her now larger and furry body. Most of her was white, but she had small purple highlights going all over her body in the places where Ranma had blonde fur and spots. She was very lithe and, like Ranma and Brittany, seemed built for speed. Ranma had to admit that she was very cute.

"Ra… Rhys?" Shampoo said, "Why were those weapons glowing blue?"

She was looking at the large pile of silver that the non-werecreatures had gotten off of Mousse.

"You can see silver," Rhys said, "Any werecreature that sees anything that contains silver sees a blue aura surrounding it. You need to keep aware of it so you don't accidentally touch something that has silver in it when you're out in public."

"I feel so… strong," Shampoo said.

"I see that you like it," Rhys noted.

"Hell, yeah," Shampoo said.

Brittany's eyes fluttered open. The light hurt her eyes. Her cat like pupils shrank until she could handle the light.

"You okay?" Rhys' voice called.

"Yeah," Brittany asked, "What happened to me?"

"Kodachi sprayed you with a chemical that had silver in it," Rhys said, "It tore up your lungs. You've been asleep for three days."

"I'm starving," Brittany said.

"Well, get dressed," Rhys said, "Kasumi's making dinner."

"Kasumi?" Brittany asked, "Wasn't she from Nerima? What's she doing here?"

"When the rest of her family suddenly came here, she somehow came as well," Rhys said, "The people that we had to fight were under that midgets control. Gina's trying to reverse some of the effects he did to them. She's pretty sure she can stop them from being controlled again."

"Damn Pee-wee," Brittany said, "He's never gone that far."

"His name is Pee-wee?" Rhys started to chuckling, "That's the stupidest name I've e…"

Brittany and Ranma both froze. A smell was wafting into the room. With two flashes of movement, Brittany got dressed in less that a second, Rhys picked her up, and darted out of the room at 1080mph. Genn and Séance would later wonder how foot prints appeared on the walls and ceiling.

Brittany and Rhys were soon joined by Brianna and, surprisingly, Shampoo. They raced off towards the kitchen, blowing past Theo and Julia on the way.

"I'm surprised that Shampoo can keep up with them," Theo said.

"Well," Julia said, "Kasumi IS cooking several tuna dishes."

Brittany, Rhys, Brianna, and Shampoo were currently destroying everything that had tuna in it. Ryoga was the only one that seemed effected by the sight. Not because Rhys was eating that fast, but because there were three girls eating just as fast. Cologne and Happosai were affected for a half second, before they chalked it up to a werecat thing and ignored it.

Pretty soon, the werecats had successfully eaten about 95 of the tuna dishes. The rest may have gotten a few bites, but they mainly had to eat the other dishes, such as the chicken or the noodle soup.

"Rhys," Brittany said, "Shampoo, can I ask you two a question?"

"Sure," Rhys said.

"In private?" Brittany asked.

Rhys saw a twinkle in Brittany's eyes, and smiled.

"What?" Shampoo asked, getting a little bit scared, her tail fizzed out.

About thirty minutes later, two blonde girls were dragging a purple haired girl towards the mall.

Gina looked up as movement caught her eye. Inside a nearby healing tank, one of the patients was moving.

Akane, Soun, Nabiki, and Mousse had been captured before Daishi had somehow gotten everyone else out.

Gina was afraid that Akane, Nabiki, and Mousse had had werecreature DNA spliced in with their own. Seeing how they had reacted when Ran… Rhys had come clean, they would most definitely freak.

Nabiki was slightly awake, and looking around. She saw Gina, and just stared at her for a while. Gina arched her eyebrow, before checking Nabiki's health on her computer. She was physically fine, but mentally Gina suspected the gene splicing was wreaking havoc on her.

Gina pressed a button, and Nabiki's tube started to drain.

"Shh…" Brittany said, "Come on."

"No, no, wait, wait," Rhys said, "Follow me."

Rhys then disappeared from view.

"Where'd he go?" Brittany asked, looking around.

"I'm still here," Rhys said.

"You're… invisible?" Brittany asked.

"Yup," Rhys said.

"It's one of the Saotome sealed techniques," Shampoo said, "The Sneaky Thief."

"R-Ranma?" A voice asked as Rhys was walking with Shampoo and Brittany after sneakily hiding their stashes away. Rhys (female form still) turned to look at Nabiki.

They were all in hybrid form. Shampoo had taken a shine to it quickly after obtaining it.

"It's Rhys," She said, "Ranma was Genma's son. I'm in no was related to that man, please call me by my true name."

"O-okay," Nabiki said, "I… I'm sorry."

"What?" Rhys asked.

"I was the one that got everyone involved with that little prick," Nabiki said, "I'm the reason why your sister got hurt and…"

"Hey," Rhys said, "You didn't know what he would do, and you were pissed at me. I don't blame you, I sort of blame Happosai."

"Why?" Nabiki asked.

"Because he taught your father that lame style of martial arts," Rhys said. She saw Nabiki get slightly angry, "No, wait, listen to me. Happosai taught your father a lame martial arts not because it's fighting is bad, but because it focuses on one singular emotion. That's why Akane is always mad, she can't NOT be mad. You, Kasumi, and Soun are the same way."

Nabiki nodded, and decided to 'ask' Happosai later. She stared at the floor for a while, before looking up at Rhys and the two girls. Nabiki had to admit; Rhys did look like his hybrid form was natural. The other cheetah girl must be Rhys' sister. And…

"Shampoo?" Nabiki asked, "You're one too?"

"Um…" Shampoo said, "Has she had the spell on her?"

"Doesn't matter," Gina said, "You've been talking in Japanese and English for days now. You didn't notice, did you?"

"Wh…" Shampoo said, "Wow. I thought I was speaking Mandarin."

"That's what the spell does," Brittany smiled, "It allows someone to learn languages extremely quickly."

"To answer your question," Shampoo said, nervously, in Japanese, "Yeah, I'm a werecat now. I wasn't before."

"How'd you get to be one?" Nabiki asked, "Did this lug bite you or something?"

"No, I didn't," Rhys said, "And it isn't biting, it's the claws that infect people, and my power to infect was sealed when I was three, I can't infect people."

"Then… how?" Nabiki asked.

"She's been learning the same type of teachings as Rhys and I have," Brittany said, "She, almost accidentally, mixed her Jusenkyo curse with her human form. Daddy thinks that's how werecreatures came to exist in the first place."

"Okay, well," Nabiki said, "Just don't turn me into one. I'd rather stay human."

The entire room (which was in Gina's Lab) went quiet. Nabiki noticed that everyone was looking at her.

"What?" She asked.

"You don't remember what Pee-wee did to you, do you?" Brittany asked.

"No, not really?" Nabiki asked, "The last thing I remember was giving Pee-wee some of R… Rhys and Ryoga's DNA. Wait… you're not saying…"

"That Pee-wee spliced their DNA into yours?" Gina said, "Yep, he did."

"What…?" Nabiki said, "No way."

"You didn't notice that you have a tail and blonde hair now, did you?" Rhys asked.

Nabiki glanced behind her to see her cheetah like tail. She then looked all over her.

"But…" Nabiki said, "I'm not furry or anything."

"You're not a werecheetah," Rhys said, "He probably didn't have enough of my DNA to do that. He just augmented you with my DNA to make you faster and more agile."

"You can also expect to see a LOT of side effects," Gina said, "That werecreature DNA in you is gonna start acting up real soon, and your body will probably start killing itself. Pee-wee could have kept you alive with more gene therapy."

"I don't want to go back to that freak," Nabiki said.

"There are only two ways to stop your body from going haywire," Gina said, "Either go back to Pee-wee and be his guinea pig, or…"

"…Or what?" Nabiki asked.

"For Rhys or Brittany have their ability to infect unsealed and they scratch you," Gina said.

"What?" Brittany said, "No way. I'm not going to force her to be my slave."

"Me neither," Rhys noted.

"Slave?" Nabiki asked.

"When a werecreature infects a human, the human turns into a werecreature over the course of about two weeks," Rhys told her, "And the infected werecreature has to follow every single command that the werecreature that infected them gives. If the master doesn't give any commands, the infected werecreature goes on living like they would have. Mentally, they don't change at all."

"I don't think you should worry about that," Gina said, "I talked to Daddy about it, and I'm pretty sure that that won't happen. It'll just add a catalyst to their system that brings the DNA that's already there out to the surface."

"You're 'pretty sure'?" Rhys said.

"If it turns out that she would be under your control, Daddy can stop the transformation, and we can try something else," Gina said, "But it's the best lead we have at the moment."

"Was… was anyone else hurt by Pee-wee?" Nabiki asked.

"Well…" Rhys said, "Only three of you have werecreature DNA now. The rest WERE experimented on, just not with werecreature DNA. Kuno, Kodachi, Taro, and Genma got away from us. Akane, Soun, and Mousse we managed to get before Pee-wee retreated."

"Who was experimented on with the DNA?" Nabiki asked.

"Akane, Mousse, and you," Gina said, "We're lucky it turned out that way. Pee-wee doesn't have any more fresh DNA sources, so he can't play around with it as much as he would like. We can still expect them to attack again and again, but not with werecreature super soldiers."

"A-Akane?" Nabiki said.

"Both Ryoga and my DNA," Rhys said, "She's part werewolf, part werecheetah, and Mousse has werewolf DNA in him."

"Oh god," Nabiki started to cry, "I'm… I'm so incredibly stupid."

"Don't worry," Brittany said, "My family is here for you. We'll be glad to help."

"Th-thanks," Nabiki said, she started chuckling weakly, "Akane's gonna flip when she finds out."

"Leave her to me," Rhys said.

"Ready?" Rhys asked. Nabiki, who was sitting on the couch nodded.

She flinched heavily when Rhys' 6-inch long claws ripped from her fingertips with an appropriate SHING sound. They were long and sharp, and almost pearly white. There was a small bit of yellow in them though.

"Ugh," Rhys said, picking at his claws, "I hate that my claws are so brittle."

"Well, where do you suggest we get Zebra?" Brittany asked.

"I could list a few places," Rhys said, "Most of them it would be illegal, but…"

"Zebra?" Nabiki asked.

"Werecheetahs need to eat Zebra meat every once in a while, or their claws get brittle," Rhys waved her brittle claws around, "Can't use em very well when they're brittle."

Rhys placed her claws lightly on Nabiki's arm. She could definitely feel that, although they were brittle, they were very sharp.

"Do it," Nabiki said.

Rhys lightly dragged her claws across her arm. It bit into the skin, causing a small amount of blood to come out. She pulled away.

Nabiki felt the wounds tingle for a moment, before she suddenly went something along the lines of 'poof'.

Poof.

Rhys stumbled backwards (to fall on her ass) as Nabiki almost instant grew at least a foot and a half, and was covered in the same light fur as Rhys and Brittany.

Nabiki blinked a few times, before looking at her arms. The cuts were still there, but her arm was also a lot bigger, so they looked smaller. Also, she was furry.

"That was fast," Nabiki said.

"Nabiki," Rhys called.

"What?"

"DANCE FOR ME!" Rhys commanded, pointing at her.

Nabiki just backed away from him slightly and stared at him, confused.

"Okay, it looks like you don't obey me," Rhys said, "Alls well that ends well."

"Why do I have a sudden craving for tuna?" Nabiki asked.

Rhys and Brittany smirked.


	13. Werecreature

Nabiki smiled like a moron as she finished the can of tuna off. She didn't notice, but she was purring.

"Well," Brittany said, "Looks like Nabs' gonna be fine."

"Nabs?" Nabiki asked.

Suddenly, Shampoo and Brianna charged into the room.

"Who's eating tuna!" The both asked at the same time.

Akane's eyes snapped open.

"NRAAAAGH!" She yelled as she sat up

She looked around the room to see a blonde, really tall girl with glasses who looked quite confused.

"Uh…" Gina said.

"Where am I!" Akane asked, still angry.

"My lab," Gina said as Akane stood up walked over to her. Gina used her feet to propel her wheeled chair away from the slightly psychotic psudo-werewolf.

"Where's Ranma?" Akane snarled.

"Should be with Brittany and Nabiki right now," Gina said, not knowing that she had just lit the fuse of a nuclear bomb.

"NRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Akane barreled out of the lab.

Gina just stared in shock.

She was also slightly glad she had put some clothes on the patients before hand.

Rhys, Brittany, and Nabiki's ears flicked as the sound of Akane's primal roar came to them. Nabiki yipped and grabbed her ears.

"What?" Rhys asked.

"That felt weird!" Nabiki said.

"Get used to it," Brittany said, "They're cat ears, and they'll do that a lot."

"I can't believe this," Nabiki said, "I always thought all the weird things would happen to YOU."

"Hmph," Rhys said, smirking, "Can't help it if I'm curious."

"Yeah well," Nabiki said, "You know what they say."

"Curiosity killed the cat, yeah yeah," Rhys said, "You're a cat now too, you kn…"

They all froze as Akane dashed by. They all stared at the door. They heard a screeching sound and a small crash. Akane then reappeared in the doorway a moment later. She glared at the three werecheetahs in front of her.

"Ranma!" Akane yelled in anger, staring at Rhys, she glanced to thee two other cheetahs, "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Brittany. Rhys, or as you call him Ranma, is my brother."

"And you?" Akane asked the other cheetah that wasn't looking at her.

"Um…" The cheetah turned around.

Akane's eyes went wide, "Na… Na…"

"Hey, Sis," Nabiki smiled wearily.

Theo and Julia watched as the angry girl chased the only (usually) male werecheetah out into the yard.

"RANMA!" Akane yelled, "What did you do to my sister?"

Theo looked at Julia, who shrugged. They then followed the two outside.

Rhys was flowing through Akane's sloppy attacks easily, though not as easily as before Akane got pumped full of werecreature DNA.

"Yo, Akane," Rhys said, "My name isn't Ranma. It's Rhys."

"I don't care what your name is!" Akane yelled, "What did you do to my sister?"

"Probably saved her life," Rhys said, ducking under a flew more blows "And I intend to save yours."

"Me!" Akane asked, "Save me from WHAT!"

"The DNA that was pumped into your body," Rhys said, "Or did you not notice that you have a tail."

Akane paused. She looked behind her, before she started to shake.

"You okay?" Rhys asked.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?" Akane started attacking even faster now.

"Whoa, I didn't do nothing!" Rhys yelled, "That damn midget did! You remember? That little guy?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Akane yelled in rage.

"That midget pumped you full of my DNA and Ryoga's DNA," Ranma said, "You're part werecheetah and part werewolf. Nabiki was the same. I had to do that or she'd have died."

"Liar!" Akane asked.

"Look, are you gonna calm down, or am I gonna have to do it for you?" Rhys asked. She was getting annoyed.

"Akane," Nabiki's voice called, "Just calm down, he's telling the truth."

"Stay out of…" Akane was cut short as Rhys attacked. A small bang told everyone how fast the attack was. Akane simply stared as Rhys sprouted long claws from her fingertips and slashed her lightly on the face. Rhys then jumped backwards.

Akane's hand flashed up to the wound. She pulled her hand away too see that there was blood on her fingers. She also saw that her fingers were covered in fur.

Akane turned her now furry hand over to see the yellow fur that had brown streaks throughout it. She then passed out.

"You got her?" Akane heard Rhys' voice.

"Yeah," Ryoga's voice came from behind her. Akane then noticed that someone was holding her arms.

"What… Ranma!" Akane yelled, seeing the aforementioned boy.

"It's Rhys, not Ranma," the werecheetah said.

"What did you do to me?" Akane asked.

"Akane, chill," Nabiki said. Akane looked at Nabiki.

"Why should I?" Akane asked, "He did the same thing to you!"

"Yeah, because I would have died," Nabiki said, her tail flicking.

"But this is Ranma!" Akane said, "Why would he do anything for anyone else?"

"My name is Rhys!"

"What?" Brittany asked, "My brother is one of the nicest people I know!"

"Oh please," Akane said, "Ranma was a pervert, a freak, and an idiot. He does do nice."

"My name is RHYS!"

"Hey!" Brittany yelled, "He is not a freak! He's a werecheetah! He's not a pervert; that would be Happosai. And he's not stupid!"

"Ha!" Akane yelled back, "Ranma is SO a fre…"

"Goddamn it, my name is RHYS!"

"Chill," Nabiki said, patting her shoulder. It was odd to be able to do that to an eight-foot tall cheetah girl, but Nabiki was an eight and a half foot tall cheetah girl, "Akane, just shut up. Have you forgotten that you and I are also not human anymore?"

Akane froze, and started to stare downward, at the legs that were coming from the shorts she wore. They were covered in yellow-orange fur with brown stripes in it.

Akane started to freak.

"Naaaah!" She yelled.

Everyone started to ignore her unintelligible rambling.

"Hey, I just remembered something," Nabiki said, "R… Rees?"

"Rhys. R-H-Y-S."

"Rhys," Nabiki continued, "You've been screwed over again."

"Heh? How?"

"You said that you would never marry a human," Nabiki said, "And Daddy is still here. Looks like your stuck again."

Akane didn't snap out of it to say anything. Rhys just twitched.

"AND," Nabiki continued, "She doesn't have any competition anymore."

"Wouldn't say that," Rhys said, sighing.

"What?" Nabiki asked.

"Rhys, wh…" A werecat walked into the room. Her fur was white all over, and instead of cheetah spots, there were swirls of purple fur, "What happened to you?"

Akane and the werecat were staring at each other.

"Shampoo?" Akane asked, "Since when have you been a werecat?"

"About two days," Shampoo said.

"Was SHE about to die too?" Akane glared at Rhys.

"No," Rhys said, "She did it without any help from me or any other werecreature. She managed to mix her cursed form and her human form together and turn herself into a werecat."

"Oh, all we need is one more and we'll have the usual amount," Nabiki said, "Wasn't there another werecheetah in this house."

"Brianna," Rhys said, "She's not only infatuated with Ryoga, she's also my sister."

"I thought you had only one sister," Nabiki noted.

"She was sort of… created," Brittany said, "Just don't mention it and accept it, Brianna's kinda touchy about her origin. She's my sister, and Rhys' sister too."

"Okay, so is Akane gonna be okay?" Nabiki asked, seeing that Akane was now kicking like mad to get away from Ryoga.

"As soon as she calms down," Rhys said, "We can start helping her get back to how she's supposed to be, not pissed off all the damn time."

"RANMA!" Soun howled, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY DAUGHTERS!"

"Soun, Chill," Rhys said, "And my name is Rhys, not Ranma. Ranma's been dead since I left Nerima."

"Whoever you are, what have you done?" Soun howled.

"Are you sure he didn't get any werewolf DNA?" Rhys whispered to Gina, "He's howling."

"I'm sure," Gina said.

"ANSWER ME!" Soun howled again.

"What the hell is with all the howling!" Ryoga sudden came into the room, pissed off, "Stop it! It's freaking me out!"

"Aw," Brianna latched onto Ryoga, "Ryoga, you're so cute when you're mad!"

Everyone in the room except Soun stared at the two of them.

"NRAAAAAGHARARAA!" Soun snarled, not moving from his seat one a large couch.

Rhys jumped back to avoid the spit.

"Jees!" Rhys said, "I only scratched them! It isn't like there dead you know! If I hadn't they would have died!"

"AABLABLABLABLA!" Soun snarled, his head rolling around; he still didn't stand up, "MAMAMAMDOORAKAAAIIIIIIIIII!"

Everyone just stared at him.

"Dude, is he rabid?" Brianna asked.

"I'm not completely sure," Nabiki said from where she and Akane were sitting on the couch.

"Hey, it's that guy," Shampoo said, pointing at the television.

"It's what guy?" Rhys asked.

"That guy from America's Funniest Home Video," Shampoo said.

"Bob Saggat?" Rhys asked, wondering why Shampoo was sitting so close to him and purring like crazy.

"Sure you can, chimp man!" Bob Saggat said, "Psychic cheetah!"

They both stared at the TV for a moment.

"Help!" Brittany yelled, running through the hallways at full speed. Mousse was running after her, slightly wondering why his silver weaponry were tingling.

Mousse suddenly found himself leaning up against the wall with his jaw aching. He glanced at who hit him.

"Ryoga!" Mousse said, "What're you doing? I was chasing after a…"

"Werecheetah, I know," Ryoga said.

"Why the hell did you punch me then?" Mousse asked loudly.

"Because you're a were-hunter," Ryoga told him.

"That still doesn't explain why you punched me," Mousse told him.

"Actually, it does," Ryoga said, "You were chasing after Rhys' sister."

"Who the hell is…" Mousse was cut off.

"Ranma's sister," Ryoga said, "Rhys is his real name."

"So she's his adopted sister?" Mousse asked.

"You DID see him go into hybrid form, didn't you?" Ryoga asked, not amused, "Brittany is Rhys' REAL sister."

"Then I have to find and kill both of them!" Mousse said as he tried to run off again. Ryoga stopped him by grabbing Mousse's arm.

"Okay, you're pissing me off slightly," Ryoga said growling, "You've been out of the loop too long. There are seven and a half werecreatures living here. You think you could kill them all?"

"Seven and a…" Mousse said, "Wait. Seven and a half? How can there be a half a werecreature."

"Well there's the werecheetahs," Ryoga said, "Rhys, Brittany, and Brianna are all related. Nabiki is full werecheetah, and Akane is half cheetah half wolf."

"Nabiki and Akane?" Mousse said, "Ranma… he turned them!"

"Shut up and listen," Ryoga said, "Nabiki and Akane would have DIED if they didn't turn. That asshole Pee-wee spliced the DNA of Rhys and me into them."

"Ranma because he's a werecheetah, and you because you're a bulldozer?" Mousse asked, socking an eyebrow at him.

"No!" Ryoga said, "I'm a damn werewolf! Now shut up and listen!"

Mousse paled, and tried to bring the sword up and around onto Ryoga.

Ryoga, showing speed Mousse didn't know he had, caught Mousse's wrist and made him drop the weapon. After that, he shifted into hybrid form.

"LISTEN," Ryoga quipped, "Rhys, Brittany, Brianna, Nabiki, Akane, and I, that's six. Guess who the other one and a half is?"

"Um…" Mousse's eyes were wide, "Kasumi and… um… Soun?"

"Nope," Ryoga said, "Shampoo accidentally turned into one when she mixed her curse with her human form."

"S-Shampoo?" Mousse looked petrified.

"And you would make seven and a half," Ryoga smirked, showing his fangs, "Didn't notice that you had a tail, did ya?"

Mousse looked behind him.

"AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!"

"Well, looks like he saw his tail," Rhys said.

"Serves him right," Brittany said.

"Dude!" Ryoga said, gripping Mousse in a bear hug, "CHILL!"

"Lemme go! Lemme go! I'm not a werecreature! I'm not!" Mousse yelled.

"Of course you're not!" Ryoga shouted to the psychotic Amazon, "You're half! That midget named Pee-wee put my DNA into your DNA!"

"Get it out then!"

"We CAN'T!" Ryoga yelled, "And unless you want to go back to that midget and get even more screwed up, you have to become a full werewolf or you'll DIE!"

"I'd rather DIE!" Mousse screamed.

"Ha," Ryoga said coldly, "A slow painful death that involves you body destroying itself? You, rotting while you are still alive? Dissolving? Really, is being a werewolf THAT bad?"

"They're EVIL!" Mousse yelled.

"No we're not!" Ryoga said, not letting his grip loosen, "Well… most werewolves are evil. But I'm not."

"Most?" Mousse spat sarcastically.

"Shut… up…" Ryoga squeezed hard, making Mousse cough, "I don't care what the others do. They killed Rhys and Brittany's ENTIRE tribe. I am NOT one of those SADISTIC bastards."

"…ow," Mousse said, "Y-you're s-sti…"

Ryoga squeezed again.

"You know," Ryoga said, "All I have to do is scratch you, and you'd INSTANTLY turn into a werewolf. You should be careful what you say."

"Eep!" Mousse said as Ryoga's claws came into clear view, "Heh heh… b-brittle c-claws… y-you should g-get that l-looked at…"

"I'll look into it," Ryoga said, "Now decide, is dying like that any worse than being alive, but a werewolf? I mean, Shampoo's a werecat and she doesn't seem sad at all. She's still Shampoo."

"Would… I really die that horribly?" Mousse asked.

"Brianna?" Ryoga asked.

A werecheetah came into Mousse's view.

"Yup," Brianna said, "Maybe even worse. Gina said something about shutting all of the systems off, before you're muscles spontaneously relax, and then you start to rot."

"Ehheh," Mousse said. He didn't respond.

Ten seconds later…

"Too late," Ryoga said. He stabbed Mousse in the back of the wrist with his claw.

"AIIIE!" Mousse yelled.

Mousse as well, went poof.

Ryoga and Brianna looked at the werewolf that was currently huddled on the floor, covering his eyes with his hands. They listened to the whimpering for a moment, before Ryoga nudged him with his foot.

"Was that so bad?" Ryoga asked.

"Eh?" Mousse asked, looking up. His furry face looked confused.

"Feel any different?" Ryoga asked.

"Yes," Mousse said, looking at his hands.

"Mentally?" Ryoga quirked an eyebrow.

"…No," Mousse said, "Not really."

"Good," Ryoga picked up the now werewolf wearing clothing that was too small and stood him up, "Consider yourself edjumakayded in the fact that werecreatures aren't evil."

(SOUND IT OUT! ED JEW MA CAY TED! EDUCATED, ASS! **ASS! ** **BUNGALOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**)

…

(thank you bitch, SUCK IT DRY!)

_-Author_

"I'll tell Rhys and Brittany to get some more clothes," Brianna said, "They'll be ecstatic about another mall trip."

"Rhys… is Ranma, right?" Mousse asked.

"Yeah," Ryoga said.

"Why would he be ecstatic?" Mousse asked.

"That…" Ryoga said, putting his furry arm around Mousse, they started to walk towards where the two would be, "That you'll have to see yourself to believe."

"Calmed down now?" Rhys asked as Ryoga and Mousse walked into the room.

"Y-yeah," Mousse said, looking at all the werecreatures in the room.

"Hey, don't worry," Rhys said, standing up and walked over to Mousse, "You're one of us now, a werecreature. No need to feel skittish. We're like one big… happy…"

Rhys took a large breath.

"…Completely screwed up family," He finished.

"Very nice, Rhys," Nabiki quipped.

Rhys laughed.

Mousse could already see that Ranma… Rhys… was a lot more active and social here than in Nerima.


	14. Second Coming of El Nino

"I have too," Mousse said, "It's a matter of honor. I can't ignore the rules."

"No," Rhys said, "You're not going back there."

"But I have too," Mousse said, "If I don't, they'll eventually hunt me down, and when they do, they destroy everybody I had recently come into contact with."

"Which means…" Brittany said, "Everyone here."

"Yes," Mousse said.

"Fine," Rhys said, annoyed, "You'll go, but you're not going alone."

Five people were walking in the forest that surrounded Jusenkyo, Jusendo, and Joketsozuko.

They were, from left to right.

Rhys, Shampoo, Ryoga, and Mousse. With Cologne walking ahead of them.

Several of the others had come to China and Japan. The Diggers had come to China to visit and research local shrines and ruins. Nabiki, Akane, Soun, Akane, Nodoka, and Happosai had gone to Japan to tie up loose ends. They had told them not to stay at their houses, and to stay near Happosai in case Pee-wee came and found them.

That left Genn and Séance in Atlanta, Georgia, savoring the peace and quiet.

The four teenagers and the one mummy walked down the slightly worn path, all in a human state. The village of Joketsozuko came into sight.

As they entered the town, it began to buzz. Quickly, all of the elders had gathered.

There were technically five sub groups of amazons. Cologne and Shampoo were of the clan who's symbol was, ironically, a cat. They specialized in speed.

Mousse was of the clan who's symbol was, also ironically, a wolf. They specialized in weapons and had a history of were-hunters.

The next house was the raven. They specialized in healing arts and also were in charge of the wealth of artifacts that had been collected in the village.

The next house was of the rat clan. They are usually the ones who craft the weapons and ammunition used by their own clan and the four others, they are also excellent trackers and semi-ninjas. Absolutely deadly with any projectile weaponry.

The final clan, the bear clan, was of the intellectuals. This was the head clan, the true rulers of the Joketsozuko. They also had many roots, being the oldest clan to date. They were were-hunters, black magicians, and other things that should not be told under the light of the day.

It was mid afternoon. Cologne had schooled Ryoga and Rhys on how the Joketsozuko worked.

No act was secret to the other amazons. All acts are secret to outsiders. Except when said outsiders are deemed worthy, by the elder of one of the clans, to hear said acts. Cologne would approach the four other elders and announce that Rhys and Ryoga were, in fact, worthy.

And when the head elder asked why they were worthy, Cologne would mention the fact that Rhys personally killed a certain deity of a certain area in a certain battle, and that Ryoga happened to be his equal in combat.

"Ready?" Mousse asked quietly.

"I should ask you the same," Rhys said, "This is potentially your neck, more so than it is ours."

"Heh," Mousse smirked, "Ready as I'll ever be."

"I have to say," Ryoga said, "You're taking this inscrutably easy."

A pause. Everyone was looking at Ryoga.

"What?" He asked.

"'Inscrutably'?" Rhys asked, "Don't you mean irrefutably?"

"Shut up."

(_Yes, irrefutably is a word, it means undeniably; or, for those with low standardized test scores, "NO CAN BE NO". You should bow down to me and my abnormally large vocabulary. Because I am… people person. People like me… because I MAKE them like me… with VIOLENCE!_

_Heh, I'm such as ass._)

"Cologne," The head clan elder, Aloe, said, "You have returned after two years, and you bring outsiders? I was under the impression that you were bringing Ranma Saotome back as Shampoo's husband. How unfortunate that he is not here today."

"Ah, yes," Cologne said, "Several unforeseen occurrences have recently come to past. It directly involved Ranma, seeing as his sister was in peril."

"I was also under the understanding that Ranma was an only child," Aloe said.

"In the Saotome registry, yes," Cologne said, "Under his original family name, no."

"…" Aloe looked at Cologne and the four teens behind her. Her eyes squinted.

Cologne had also told them this part. Aloe would search them for weaknesses and faults, to decide if they were good enough to be called worthy by another elder. Very strict rules they are.

Cologne was lucky. None of the elders seemed to remember what Ranma had looked like. Although, they had known Ranma as a fighter, and Rhys here had no seeable muscles. Therefore, he couldn't be Ranma.

"Very well," Aloe said, she looked at Cologne again.

She pointed at Rhys and Ryoga.

"If it would be possible," Cologne said, "I believe that Rhys and Ryoga are worthy of being present as we converse about the matters at hand. They are themselves highly involved in said matters."

Aloe smirked.

"Very well," She said, "What is it you wish to ask of this elder?"

"Mousse," Cologne said, moving aside.

Mousse walked up to where Cologne had previously stood. He bowed deeply, and didn't rise.

"I, Mu Tsu, of the clan of the wolf, and retainer of the legacy of the were-hunters that bred my clan, have failed."

"Failed?" Aloe said, while looking towards the elder of the Wolf Clan (Crème), "In what way?"

"In the most grievous way one of my clan could fail," Mousse said.

A pause, a small collective gasp, and murmuring. Aloe raised her hand, an the noise instantly stopped.

"Very well," Aloe said, "Crème."

Crème being the wolf clan hierarch.

"Mousse," Crème said, "You do remember that there are only two ways you could have failed in the most grievous way when of our clan, don't you?"

"Yes, Elder," Mousse said.

"You have either allowed a werecreature to walk free, or you have become one yourself through the evil infection," Crème said, "Neither of which has happened in over a hundred years. Are you saying that you have done one of these things?"

"Yes, Elder," Mousse said, still bowed.

"And which was it?" Crème asked.

"It…" Mousse said, sighing as he stood up strait again, "It… it was both, elder."

Crème flashed into motion. A silver knife appearing in her hand. It came to rest upon Mousse's cheek, the flat of its silver blade obviously reacting to Mousse's skin and burning him. Mousse did not flinch, which was a feat seeing as how bad silver hurt.

(Note: Crème is relatively young. Maybe thirty. She is the oldest woman in the wolf tribe, and therefore an elder, but she wasn't in any way elderly. She rivals Cologne's power even at her young age.)

Crème stared into Mousse's eyes. She noticed that they looked wrong… as if they were fake.

She pulled the knife away.

"Show your true form, demon," Crème said looking away.

There was a small rustle from behind Crème. Ryoga and 'Ranma' had flinched upon the word DEMON.

Then, there was a lot of commotion as Mousse turned into his hybrid form.

"So," Crème said, glancing at the tall werewolf, "You got infected, and allowed the werewolf that infected you to live."

"Not quite," Mousse said, "I let seven werecreatures live."

"Seven?" Crème was outraged, "You allowed yourself to be taken over by a demon and you then allowed SEVEN of them to survive!"

"Yes," Mousse said, not flinching.

"Who turned you?" Crème yelled, glaring at Rhys and Ryoga, "I saw them react to the word demon, which one was it!"

"Neither of them," Mousse said, "I was not infected. A mishap happened and I became a werewolf because of a blood transaction. I'm sure you noticed my eyes. The one who turned me also repaired my eyesight so that I would have been more useful to him."

"And the one who did this?" Crème asked, still obviously angry.

"A human," Mousse said, "A scientist who calls himself Pee-wee."

"Impossible," Crème said, "What human in their right mind would have anything to do with demons?"

"Not all people are like those in this village, Crème," Cologne said, "There are several thousand outsiders who would make pacts with devils."

"Crème," Aloe called from the sidelines, "Calm yourself."

Crème breathed deep. She turned back to the werewolf.

"You said that the outsiders were directly involved in this," Crème said, "May I ask how these two outsiders and Shampoo were involved."

"Simple," Cologne said, "They saw it happen, and are partially responsible for the occurrences that took place."

"Partially responsible for a highly trained member of my clan being turned into a demon?" Crème asked, her voice dripping with venom, "Please explain."

"Their normal 'skermishes' attracted the man named Pee-wee," Cologne said, "Pee-wee then attacked. Ranma, Ryoga, and Shampoo only got out due to Mousse's actions."

"So," Crème said, "You remain firm on your story of the man who dealed with demons?"

"It is the truth," Cologne said.

"Fine," Crème said, she turned to Mousse, "Mousse, face me."

Mousse turned to her.

Aloe's eyes squinted, she could see the three teens behind Mousse tense up, especially in the cases of the two boys.

"Mousse," Crème said, gripping the silver dagger, "For the crimes against the Joketsozuko Wolf's Clan of the most foul kind, you shall be sentenced to death so that the devil within you may return to the realm of evil."

Mousse sighed, his wolf's tail stood stock-still.

Crème flashed towards Mousse. She poised the dagger to plunge it into Mousse's heart.

The dagger did not make it there.

Crème found herself standing still. Mousse had not moved, but one of the boys had. This boy had moved with inhuman speed to knock her away from Mousse.

"YOU DARE STRIKE ME OUTSIDER!" Crème screeched as she zoomed towards the boy.

Again she charged, but this time at the young blonde boy standing in front of the still standing werewolf.

The boy's moves showed grace and form, and not to mention speed. Crème found herself again rocketing back.

Crème was flabbergasted at the idea of this boy being faster than her. She was a Joketsozuko elder, and he couldn't be older than 19.

"I would advise against dueling with him, Crème," Cologne said, "He has speed unmatched by any man or woman I know of. More speed than all of the warriors in this village _combined_."

Crème snarled at the boy. She slashed at him with her silver dagger. He caught it. Using his sleeve as a glove. He ripped it from Crème's hand, still holding it through the shirt sleeve.

"You may be fast," Crème said, "But you are not fast enough to take me."

"Really?" Rhys said.

"Watch your tongue, boy," Crème said, "You shall address me with respect."

"I give respect to those who have earned it," Rhys said, his voice going cold, "And even if I bring the entire Amazon Tribe down upon my shoulders, I will not allow you to harm my friend."

Crème was about to charge again, before Aloe called out.

"I would be cautious, Crème," Aloe called, "One must not underestimate a person like he. Doing so could get you killed."

"May I ask what you are talking about, elder?" Crème asked.

"Of course," Aloe smirked, "I am surprised you did not notice it earlier. He has many distinguishing marks."

Crème turned back to Rhys. She glanced him over, before doing a double take on his hair. It was spotted. Only one type of being had spotted hair.

Once Rhys knew she had figured it out, he flipped the knife up and caught it in his bare hand for a second before tossing it back to Crème. His hand steamed slightly as the knife touched it.

"Who are you?" Crème asked as she caught the knife.

"I _was_ the one known as Ranma Saotome, adopted into the Saotome registry thirteen years ago. I am now known by my true name. I am Rhys, son of Xerxes. Fastest werecheetah in the world, slayer of gods, and a master of the Saotome school of martial arts… at your service."

Ranma bowed theatrically, smirking evilly.

"Xerxes," Aloe said, "You have a younger sister, do you not, Rhys?"

"Uh…" Rhys said, "Yes, I do. How did you know that?"

"I know many things," Aloe said, "I can tell by your auras that you are all, with the exception of Cologne, werecreatures. That boy over there is a werewolf, and Shampoo a werecat."

"WHAT!" Crème whirled around to look at Shampoo, she then looked at Cologne, "Is this true!"

"I had hoped that it wouldn't have to come to this," Cologne said, "Yes, my great granddaughter accidentally turned herself into a werecat."

"How does one accidentally turn oneself into a demon?"

"Hey," Shampoo said, "I am not a demon."

Crème simply stared at her.

"Shampoo was able to do as such on her own accord," Cologne said, "Because of her new training. It allowed her to control her Jusenkyo curse. She began working on her control until one day she found herself being burned by silver. By mixing the curse into her body spiritually and physically, she turned herself into a werecreature that is relevant to her curse. A werecat."

Crème blinked. Where there had been three teenagers and one werewolf, there were now one werecheetah, one werecat, and two werewolves.

Crème looked horrified. Aloe looked amused.

"H-how can it be?" Crème said, "The werecheetahs were wiped out years ago!"

"Most of us," Rhys said, "But not all."

"How could this be?" Crème was rambling, "I made sure that those demons were dead!"

"You what?" Rhys asked darkly, glaring at the woman.

"Oh please," Crème said, "Do you really think that the werewolves were smart enough to stage that much of an attack. They were TOLD exactly what to do by the people who hired them."

"The wererats," Rhys said.

"And who hired the wererats?" Crème smirked evilly, "None but the best were-hunter alive. Who better to kill demons, but demons."

"It is not wise to taunt a werecreature, Crème," Aloe said.

Crème just smirked at Rhys.

"Why… you…" Rhys snarled, a blue-green glow flaring up around him suddenly, "Let me show you… what it's like…"

"What, to lose my family?" Crème asked, "The entire wolf clan of Joketsozuko is my family, you cannot defeat us all."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he did, Crème," Cologne said.

"No…" Rhys said. The blue-green glow weakened. It was replaced by a white glow. Rhys became calm, cold, and very evil looking. There was a small SHING sound as his claws ripped from his fingers. They glowed white, and no longer looked brittle. Rhys' power seemed to eek off of his claws.

"You threaten to infect me?" Crème said, "Even if you did, it could be easily stopped."

"No, I don't just mean to infect you," Rhys said, "I expect you to go 'poof'."

"…P-poof?" Crème asked, slightly confused. Mousse, Shampoo, and Ryoga glanced at him, slightly confused, but also slightly worried.

Rhys pulled his hand back.

"INHERITAGE!"

There was a series of three loud booms as Rhys surpassed 1080 miles per hour. A great leap at Crème, to land thirty feet beyond her. All in lest than one one hundredth of a second.

Crème felt a sudden pain on her cheek. She reached up and touched the small wound. She pulled her hand away to see blood.

Suddenly, she left a huge pain burst into existence in her other hand. She screamed and flung it around.

The silver knife clattered to the ground.

Crème stared at the burn on her hand.

For a moment, no one spoke.

"I shall do only one more thing to you, Crème," Rhys said coldly, not turning to her, "Before I release you from the technique I have caught you in."

Crème stared at the werecheetah in utter fear.

"I order you," Rhys didn't look to see that Crème had gone rigid, "To transform."

Crème felt her body convulse. Crème was still staring at her hand, which was now covered in a brown fur, almost exactly like Ryoga's.

Crème screamed bloody murder before she collapsed to the ground, sobbing.

Aloe stared at Rhys with a cold, emotionless expression. Rhys stared back at her with the same expression.

"Such a powerful technique," Aloe said, "To be able to steal ones self and species."

"I shall only use it on those that deserve it. I have finally avenged a small part of what is due for the death of my parents and kin," Rhys said, "Truly, I didn't know such a technique existed until I did it."

"Yet you know that she will be bound to your command," Aloe said, "Surely her being your slave is overcompensation."

"She is in no way under my control," Rhys said, "As I said earlier, I gave her one order before I released her. I have done no more that what was needed, and no less that what was deserved. The balance still stands, as my teachings would never permit creating a disbalance."

"I see," Aloe said, "So you are all practitioners of the Anything Goes Ideology."

The teenage werecreatures nodded.

Aloe simply nodded. She sat back in her chair, watching what Rhys did.

Crème whimpered as Rhys walked up to her.

"Listen," Rhys said, "Look inside yourself. What do you see?"

"I…" Crème said, "I'm a monster…"

"Do you feel evil?" Rhys said, "By your traditions, all werecreatures are evil."

"I AM evil," Crème whimpered.

"Are you?" Rhys said, "Forget your traditions. Just look. Do you feel any different other than physically?"

Crème searched herself, she didn't know why. Between the pain from the silver blade and the dizzying effect it was having, and the now shattered sense of reality, she wanted a way out.

And she found it, her eyes closing slowly.

"I…" Crème said slowly, "I don't feel different at all..."

"Good," Rhys said, "Werecreatures are just like humans. Hell, we might have been MADE by the humans. Like humans, some of us are evil, some of us are good. We are not demons. Now, come on."

Crème glanced with blood shot eyes at the furry hand that was offered to her. She took it and Rhys pulled her up.

"I suggest that we discuss our future businesses with the werecreatures," Cologne said, "Honestly, if we were to attack these four as they are now, I don't believe that we would have much of a chance to win."

Aloe gazed at the now five werecreatures in the middle of the encampment.

"What do you suppose we do about the fact that one of our elders is now, in fact, a werecreature?" Aloe asked.

"The conclusion that we came to is that werecreatures are humans who are simply very in tune with their nature," Cologne said, "No doubt you felt the nature of Rhys' attack. And if he had truly infected Crème, she would be a werecheetah, not a werewolf."

"So that attack does not infect someone, it just forces them to be in tune with their nature," Aloe noted.

"Yes," Rhys said, "Every human has the innate ability to be a werecreature. The attack called the Inheritage simply creates a balance between a person's human and beast. Crème's totem animal happened to be a wolf, and when the balance was created, the form of their self and of their totem mixes, thus turning a human into a werecreature of their destined type."

"You speak as if the humans were created from werecreatures," Aloe said, "Any yet, a short while ago, you were saying the exact opposite."

"Honestly," Rhys said, "It could be either way. I don't know."

"If you do now know, then how did you know that attack, and how to use it?" Aloe said.

"When you center yourself with things, you start to realize the centers of many other things. I was only taught five centers, but since then, I have, sometimes without me knowing it, taught myself at least ten more, albeit smaller centers," Rhys said.

"And when you center some things, you're ability to manipulate that center becomes stronger with every time you use it," Ryoga told, "We have not only our born ability to turn into an animal and hybrid state, but we've also obtained a center of it. Every time we transform, we realize a new thing about it."

"That is a dangerous power you four hold," Aloe said.

"Yes," Mousse said, "It seems to only be limited by our imagination and the ways we can think to us it. Our center of hot and cold are linked to the basic elements. By combining the powers of that center, you come to understand what the meaning of the other elements are. And after you realize that, you can control it."

"How many know of this training?" Aloe asked.

"Three others with considerable power, and at least three more started just recently," Cologne told her.

"How long does this technique take to learn?" Aloe asked.

"The less dangerous centers take maybe one or two days to learn, but even after two months, we have still not come close to perfecting any of them," Rhys said, "To reach true center, one would have to live forever."

"The ideology isn't exactly a martial art style," Ryoga said, "You learn the limits of your body. And once you center your mind and body, those limits sky rocket. One teaches oneself to use their limits and martial arts are an excellent place to use them. That is why Rhys is as fast as he is."

"He seemed as fast as any other werecheetah," Aloe said, "From what I've heard."

"Most werecheetahs could run at least 250," Rhys said, "The fastest, though, still struggle to go past the sound barrier. And since my limits increased… naturally, I can go even faster."

No one noticed that Rhys and Ryoga suddenly started breathing deep, and scanning the surroundings with their eyes.

"Rhys has been clocked at, at least, 1080 miles per hour," Shampoo said, "Three times the speed of sound. I myself can go at least 900. And Ryoga and Mousse, even though werewolves were not meant for speed, can go at least 450."

Aloe was thinking hard.

"I find it hard to let such a strong power be kept loose in public," Aloe said, "It is most unnerving."

"Do not worry, Elder Aloe," Cologne said, "I know that they will no abuse their power. And since they are the only people that can teach it, it would not be hard to keep the skills from the public."

From just outside the village, a being sat, watching as the teenagers ripped the Amazon traditions to shreds. The figure had seen it when the werecheetah had turned one of the five elders into a werecreature.

And the four teenagers then talked their way out of a public execution.

The figure raised a single hand and started to creep towards the encampment. The figure was then followed by at least two-dozen others.

"I see," Aloe said, "I shall let you four go, as long as you teach at least one of the amazons this technique. Having the strengths of the werecreatures on our side would be a power that would easily protect us from our enemies."

"Shampoo and Mousse are, since the execution did not take place, still amazons," Cologne said, "And they would probably be more tha…"

Cologne only then noticed that Rhys and Ryoga had been joined by Mousse and Shampoo in searching the area. Even Crème, who was not used to her new senses of smell and hearing, was looking around wearily.

Suddenly, all of the werecreatures drew their weapons.

Rhys' ki claws sparked into existence. He was still strictly a no weapon fighter.

Shampoo whipped out a Bo staff, which Julia had been training her in.

Ryoga sank down into an offensive pose.

Mousse's flashed his hands outward, and summoned two long sabers from his displacement.

Crème was still on the ground, shocked. The other four werecreatures had formed a ring around her.

"Ranma," A voice called, "Or should I say Rhys."

"Herb," Rhys said, "What do you want?"

"My guess was correct, it seems," Herb said, "When I fought you nearly a year ago, I could sense the animal part of you, as you could me."

"I could," Rhys said, "Surprising that ancient musk knew how to get dragons from Jade. Not satisfied of being part dragon, eh, prince of the Musk?"

"Becoming fully dragon would be nice, yes," Herb said, "But I have more pressing issues, as Aloe would know."

"Elder Aloe?" Cologne asked, turning towards the elder.

"The Musk prince and I have been meeting about a certain matter," Aloe said, "It seems that you know of the Jaden realm."

"Well," Rhys said, "I don't know much about it, but I do remember tales of it from when I was young."

"The world where the magical creatures now live," Herb said, "People on this realm know about it, and almost everyone on Jade knows about this realm. There _are_ people that cross over once in a while."

"Yeah," Ryoga said, "The Digger's occasionally go there. Theo is an aura mage after all."

"An aura mage, you say?" Aloe said, "That could be very useful."

"Aloe and I have agreed to have a temporary treaty of peace until the current crisis is over with," Herb said.

"What crisis?" Shampoo asked.

"There is something that is breaching the wall in between the worlds. Things are not meant to exist in two places at the same time," Herb said, "Both Aloe and I felt it. No doubt rumors are starting to spread within Jade. And whatever this thing is, it is most definitely being controlled by a werecreature."

"What is it?" Ryoga asked.

"A device," Aloe said, "A machine that was made using Magick of the Jaden realm and the technology of this realm. I have seen it in my dreams."

"Any idea what it does?" Rhys asked.

"No," Aloe said, "Not currently. We know its location only in this realm. And even then it is only half there, and like a ghost, one is able to walk through it as easily as walking through air. And unless we know of it's location in both realms, we can do nothing about it."

"And while we try to find some way of searching for it," Herb said, "It is obvious that it is extremely dangerous."

"How do you know?" Rhys asked.

"Because," Herb said, "It's a giant cannon."


	15. Disruptance of Ones Current Lifestyle

"I sense a disturbance in the force…" Brittany said.

The Diggers were currently walking through one of the streets of Hong Kong. "What?" Gina asked.

"A disturbance," Brianna said, "You know… in the force."

"I know, I've seen Star Wars more than anyone," Gina said, "But why did you suddenly say that."

"A really, really big foreboding feeling," Brittany said, "Through my connection with Rhys."

"Could the trip have gone awry?" Theo asked.

"No, it doesn't have fear or anger in it, just a feeling of something really bad is going to happen."

"Where is this cannon you speak of?" Cologne said.

"The half that is in this realm is situated at the top of a neighboring mountain to Mount Jusendo," Aloe said, "The Phoenix tribe were the first ones to see it, and their attention drew our own. But we cannot go investigate it."

"Why's that?" Rhys asked.

"The Phoenix God, Saffron, has already completely revived," Aloe shook her head.

"How is that possible?" Cologne asked, "After Rhys defeated him, he was reduced to that of an infant. How could he grow so fast is such a short amount of time?"

"He hasn't," Aloe said, "His physical body is still of a very young age, but his mental capability and powers have already returned due to Rhys being a magical creature. The ki he shot off had traces of Magick in it, which energized Saffron at the same moment it destroyed him."

"So I not only turned him into an infant," Rhys said, covering his face with a furry hand, "I preserved his intellect."

"He's gotta be pissed," Ryoga noted.

"And if our intelligence is correct, he will be going through the transformation process tonight," Aloe said, "By tomorrow night, he will be at full strength, and in full adult form."

"Its impossible to infiltrate the mountain range tonight," Mousse said, "Even with your speed, Rhys, the mountainous terrain would be a pretty big hazard. That and the scouts ARE phoenixes, and will sense any magickal presence."

"We dared not try to infiltrate the area around Jusendo," Aloe said, "Even if he is but an infant, he is still dangerous. But now that his conqueror is again here, we may be able to at least bargain for a visit."

"A scare tactic, huh?" Rhys said, "Eh, why not."

"Good, then go to the Jusenkyo Guides mountain villa," Aloe said, "From there the trek upwards is not hard, as you may remember.

Theo picked up the receiver.

"Yes?"

"A person is at the front desk asking for you, honored customer," The clerk said.

"May I ask a description?" Theo asked.

"A woman of short stature," The clerk said, which was preceded by the loud sound of a wooden staff hitting flesh. The line went dead.

Theo hung up the phone and went to the room door.

"Going somewhere?" Julia asked from her seat across the room.

"Cologne is downstairs," Theo said, "I'll be back shortly."

"When did Cologne say she was gonna be back?" Ryoga asked, leaning out a window to look at the mountainside.

"Tomorrow night," Mousse said, "With Diggers."

"Then we should prepare," Rhys said, smirking, "Who's up for a little spar?"

"Halt!" A voice came, a woman's voice. Rhys and Ryoga, who had volunteered to be the welcoming party for the Phoenix people, glanced upwards. Their eyes while in their human form couldn't pierce the cloudy skies that hid the Phoenix guards, but they could sense his presence, "Who goes there!"

"We've come to have a quiet meeting with your lord," Rhys called up, "Kindly let us pass or we will be forced to let ourselves pass."

"Foolish earth walkers," The guards voice called, "None may meet Lord Saffron."

Silence for a moment.

"You can see who we are, can you?" Ryoga called up, sarcastically.

"I do not need to, smart mouth!" The voice called, as the guard came closer, "None may meet our…"

"You…" A voice came from behind the guards.

"Oh, hello Kima," Rhys said.

"What do you want?" Kima spat, "Haven't you done enough?"

"I simply wish to see Saffron," Rhys said.

"I will not let you hurt him further, human," Kima said, nearing him.

"I resent you calling me that," Rhys said, "I merely wish to talk to him. I do not desire a rematch."

"You resent your nature and your species?" Kima laughed darkly, "Truly humans are an odd race."

"I agree there," Ryoga said, "They are pretty weird."

"And who are you?" Kima stared at him, "You look familiar?"

"I am Ryoga. I was present when Rhys here defeated Saffron, and I am his equal in combat."

Kima stared at him; her expression became slightly worried, although she tried to hide it.

"I will not let your through," Kima said, preparing to fight them, "No matter w…"

"Kima," A voice called from higher above. Everyone present looked up to see adult Saffron above them.

"Ah, Lord Saffron," Rhys smiled, "Good to see you in prime condition again."

"I should have killed you when I had the chance, werecreature," Saffron said.

Kima gasped, and stared at Rhys.

"Awe," Rhys smirked, "Coulda woulda shoulda."

Saffron glared at the two.

"You may enter," Saffron announced, "But you must take your true form."

"Gladly," Rhys and Ryoga both shifted into hybrid form, causing Kima to gasp again, "Show the way. It'll be quicker to fly."

Saffron continued to glare at them, but his cold expression took on a more amused and curious look.

In retrospect, Rhys and Ryoga began to hover above the ground.

"I remembering it being UP, correct?" Ryoga smirked.

Even Saffron was surprised as they blew past him, soaring through the air.

"Before we talk of anything," Saffron hissed at the two still hovering werecreatures, "I have a dept to repay you."

"A rematch?" Rhys said. "I have been wondering what you would be like at full power. I'm intrigued."

"The courtyard, now," Saffron hissed at him.

Rhys shot a glance at Ryoga. He shrugged and the two followed the seething God of Fire.

"I must warn you Saffron," Rhys said, "I WILL be fighting in my hybrid form. Expect more of a resistance."

"I expect nothing less from the only mortal to ever defeat me," Saffron said darkly, "But you must expect more from me as well."

"It seems we both have aces up our sleeves," Rhys said, spreading his arms and smirking, "Lets see who has more cards. I'll even allow you a free shot."

Saffron just glared at him.

"Go ahead," Rhys said, "Fry me."

"Gladly," Saffron said, pulling his hand forth, and firing a rather large fireball at Rhys. Saffron smirked as he saw Rhys calmly stand there as his form was engulfed.

Saffron, at the first fight, hadn't been a full strength. The fireball he just sent at Rhys was small in comparison to the ones he had been firing, but it was a thousand times hotter and more powerful.

His smirk fell as he saw Rhys appear. His form none the worse for where, not even his fur was singed. Of course, his clothing were completely different. Rhys wasn't about to stand there naked, so when the fire destroyed his clothing, he brought a spar set in from his displacement.

"Now let me show you MY fireball," Rhys said, bringing his hand forward. Saffron's eyebrow cocked with curiosity.

The air around Rhys' hand started to waver, as it was super heated to astonishing levels. There was no seeable fire at first, but the heat eventually caught the gases in the air on fire.

The fire burst from his fingertips; a large fireball formed and flew towards the surprised Saffron. The ball of fire was much smaller, but nonetheless just as powerful as Saffron's own. The fire passed over the fire god and blasted the asbestos walls without harming anything.

"I would expect nothing less from a survivor of that massacre," Saffron said, smirking, "I grieved for your clan that day."

"And why would you do that?" Rhys asked, amused.

"Werecreatures and Phoenixes alike are both Jaden creatures," Saffron said, "We share a connection to each other, as we also share a connection to all the other magickal races."

"I see," Rhys said.

"I am surprised that you have a werewolf in your company though," Saffron said.

"I pledged upon my families graves to protect the survivors from that day from coming to harm by my people," Ryoga said from the sidelines, "My kin killed my family just as they did Rhys'."

"I see," Saffron said, "Come with me into the counseling room. We will discuss what you wish to discuss."

"So," Saffron said, sitting on a lavish thrown. Rhys and Ryoga sat in front of him on less lavish but equally as comfortable chairs, "What is it that you wish to speak of?"

"The Joketsozuko and the Musk wish to know about the giant cannon that half appeared on the mountain neighboring this one," Rhys said, "And we are also interested."

"The Joketsozuko knew of your existence and let you live?" Saffron asked, cocking an eyebrow, "Impressive even for you."

"We managed to teach them a lesson they won't soon forget," Ryoga said, "Rhys here publicly turned the chief were-hunter into a werecreature herself. The ensuing conversation was interesting to say the least."

"I would imagine so," Saffron said, "So the Joketsozuko and the Musk have formed a impromptu treaty."

"Being as a huge transparent cannon appeared nearby," Rhys said, "I don't see it far fetched for the two to join temporarily."

"Truly it isn't," Saffron shook his head, "And you wish to know about it?"

"As much as we could," Rhys said, "Being as it is in two realms at the same time, it threatens not only Earth, but Jade as well."

"It does not exist in Earth nor Jade," Saffron said, "If it did, even though it was in both, it would still be solid. Warped and discolored yes, but not a ghost image."

"So where do you suppose it exists?" Ryoga asked.

"The third realm," Saffron said, "It reeks of corruption. It can only be of the realm of the dead and the damned."

"You suggest that the realm of the undead had breeched the barrier somehow?" Rhys said, "That would explain the immaterial form. But who in the realm of the undead would have that sort of power?"

"No sole person," Saffron said, "Even the famed Lich King couldn't breech the wall. Only a person on the outside can breech it, and bring the dead back from the grave. Conversing with others in different realms, however, would be quite easy."

"So the Lich King finds a person in Jade versed well enough in necromancy to summon a large structure in from the undead realm," Ryoga said, "I do know of some people that would be powerful enough, but to side with the Lich King is not likely."

"That theory does explain why it would appear from the undead realm, but it did not appear in Jade, but on Earth," Saffron told them, "The one who summoned it is from or was on this plane when he did it."

"So the Joketsozuko weren't wrong in their ideas of it being in both worlds," Rhys said, "It IS in two worlds, just not in Jade."

"Exactly," Saffron said.

"That still leaves out who summoned the building," Rhys sighed, "No one from Earth would be that skilled in necromancy or summoning."

"That remains to be seen," Saffron said, "We do not any leads on who did the Magick. But we do know what the machine is to be used for."

Rhys and Ryoga glanced at him, waiting.

"The machine is an artifact, created by the liches in the undead realm. The physical form remains in the undead realm so the power that fuels it still can flow into it. Its ability was summoned into Earth, making a large ghost figure in the process."

"The cannon is not necessarily a cannon. It seems, from our translations of the runes, to be an artifact that merely amplifies energies pumped into it. Be it heat, light, Magick, or ki."

"So they plan to use it to send a large wave of some sort of energy somewhere in this world?" Ryoga said, "If they filled it with the proper spell, it could easily wipe out nations."

"Yes," Saffron said, "We do not know what they plan to do with it, whoever they are. But I do not think that they are going to focus it on the earth."

"Why is that?" Rhys asked.

"The cannon is pointing strait up," Saffron shook his head, "If anything, they wish to blast some energy off into space or cover the entire planet with it. It could be a dooms day device either way."

"I doubt we'll be able to figure it out just between the three of us," Ryoga said, "If it is okay, we would like to send a select few people to study the cannon."

"And who would this be?" Saffron said, "Even if they come in peace, I cannot let the entire Amazon or Musk army in my kingdom."

"No, no, nothing like that," Rhys said, "My sisters adopted father happens to be one of Jade's best Aura Mages. Only three Amazons are coming close to your borders. Cologne and Shampoo of the cat clan, and Mousse of the wolf clan. They will stay with Ryoga and I at the Josenkyo guides mountain villa. I do not know of anyone from the Musk that is connected to Jade well enough to know runes."

"True," Saffron said, "Very well. Tomorrow, Kima and I will come to the mountain villa and escort you to the cannon."

"Thank you, Lord Saffron," Rhys nodded, smiling.

"I do it only because I have a profound respect for you, Rhys, and I welcome your family, friends, and equals into my kingdom," Saffron said, "And although I do not enjoy living on Earth, having it destroyed would most definitely hamper my current life style."

Rhys smirked.


	16. The Cannon

"I sense a disturbance in the force…" Brittany said.

The Diggers were currently walking through one of the streets of Hong Kong. "What?" Gina asked.

"A disturbance," Brianna said, "You know… in the force."

"I know, I've seen Star Wars more than anyone," Gina said, "But why did you suddenly say that."

"A really, really big foreboding feeling," Brittany said, "Through my connection with Rhys."

"Could the trip have gone awry?" Theo asked.

"No, it doesn't have fear or anger in it, just a feeling of something really bad is going to happen."

"Where is this cannon you speak of?" Cologne said.

"The half that is in this realm is situated at the top of a neighboring mountain to Mount Jusendo," Aloe said, "The Phoenix tribe were the first ones to see it, and their attention drew our own. But we cannot go investigate it."

"Why's that?" Rhys asked.

"The Phoenix God, Saffron, has already completely revived," Aloe shook her head.

"How is that possible?" Cologne asked, "After Rhys defeated him, he was reduced to that of an infant. How could he grow so fast is such a short amount of time?"

"He hasn't," Aloe said, "His physical body is still of a very young age, but his mental capability and powers have already returned due to Rhys being a magical creature. The ki he shot off had traces of Magick in it, which energized Saffron at the same moment it destroyed him."

"So I not only turned him into an infant," Rhys said, covering his face with a furry hand, "I preserved his intellect."

"He's gotta be pissed," Ryoga noted.

"And if our intelligence is correct, he will be going through the transformation process tonight," Aloe said, "By tomorrow night, he will be at full strength, and in full adult form."

"Its impossible to infiltrate the mountain range tonight," Mousse said, "Even with your speed, Rhys, the mountainous terrain would be a pretty big hazard. That and the scouts ARE phoenixes, and will sense any magickal presence."

"We dared not try to infiltrate the area around Jusendo," Aloe said, "Even if he is but an infant, he is still dangerous. But now that his conqueror is again here, we may be able to at least bargain for a visit."

"A scare tactic, huh?" Rhys said, "Eh, why not."

"Good, then go to the Jusenkyo Guides mountain villa," Aloe said, "From there the trek upwards is not hard, as you may remember.

Theo picked up the receiver.

"Yes?"

"A person is at the front desk asking for you, honored customer," The clerk said.

"May I ask a description?" Theo asked.

"A woman of short stature," The clerk said, which was preceded by the loud sound of a wooden staff hitting flesh. The line went dead.

Theo hung up the phone and went to the room door.

"Going somewhere?" Julia asked from her seat across the room.

"Cologne is downstairs," Theo said, "I'll be back shortly."

"When did Cologne say she was gonna be back?" Ryoga asked, leaning out a window to look at the mountainside.

"Tomorrow night," Mousse said, "With Diggers."

"Then we should prepare," Rhys said, smirking, "Who's up for a little spar?"

"Halt!" A voice came, a woman's voice. Rhys and Ryoga, who had volunteered to be the welcoming party for the Phoenix people, glanced upwards. Their eyes while in their human form couldn't pierce the cloudy skies that hid the Phoenix guards, but they could sense his presence, "Who goes there!"

"We've come to have a quiet meeting with your lord," Rhys called up, "Kindly let us pass or we will be forced to let ourselves pass."

"Foolish earth walkers," The guards voice called, "None may meet Lord Saffron."

Silence for a moment.

"You can see who we are, can you?" Ryoga called up, sarcastically.

"I do not need to, smart mouth!" The voice called, as the guard came closer, "None may meet our…"

"You…" A voice came from behind the guards.

"Oh, hello Kima," Rhys said.

"What do you want?" Kima spat, "Haven't you done enough?"

"I simply wish to see Saffron," Rhys said.

"I will not let you hurt him further, human," Kima said, nearing him.

"I resent you calling me that," Rhys said, "I merely wish to talk to him. I do not desire a rematch."

"You resent your nature and your species?" Kima laughed darkly, "Truly humans are an odd race."

"I agree there," Ryoga said, "They are pretty weird."

"And who are you?" Kima stared at him, "You look familiar?"

"I am Ryoga. I was present when Rhys here defeated Saffron, and I am his equal in combat."

Kima stared at him; her expression became slightly worried, although she tried to hide it.

"I will not let your through," Kima said, preparing to fight them, "No matter w…"

"Kima," A voice called from higher above. Everyone present looked up to see adult Saffron above them.

"Ah, Lord Saffron," Rhys smiled, "Good to see you in prime condition again."

"I should have killed you when I had the chance, werecreature," Saffron said.

Kima gasped, and stared at Rhys.

"Awe," Rhys smirked, "Coulda woulda shoulda."

Saffron glared at the two.

"You may enter," Saffron announced, "But you must take your true form."

"Gladly," Rhys and Ryoga both shifted into hybrid form, causing Kima to gasp again, "Show the way. It'll be quicker to fly."

Saffron continued to glare at them, but his cold expression took on a more amused and curious look.

In retrospect, Rhys and Ryoga began to hover above the ground.

"I remembering it being UP, correct?" Ryoga smirked.

Even Saffron was surprised as they blew past him, soaring through the air.

"Before we talk of anything," Saffron hissed at the two still hovering werecreatures, "I have a dept to repay you."

"A rematch?" Rhys said. "I have been wondering what you would be like at full power. I'm intrigued."

"The courtyard, now," Saffron hissed at him.

Rhys shot a glance at Ryoga. He shrugged and the two followed the seething God of Fire.

"I must warn you Saffron," Rhys said, "I WILL be fighting in my hybrid form. Expect more of a resistance."

"I expect nothing less from the only mortal to ever defeat me," Saffron said darkly, "But you must expect more from me as well."

"It seems we both have aces up our sleeves," Rhys said, spreading his arms and smirking, "Lets see who has more cards. I'll even allow you a free shot."

Saffron just glared at him.

"Go ahead," Rhys said, "Fry me."

"Gladly," Saffron said, pulling his hand forth, and firing a rather large fireball at Rhys. Saffron smirked as he saw Rhys calmly stand there as his form was engulfed.

Saffron, at the first fight, hadn't been a full strength. The fireball he just sent at Rhys was small in comparison to the ones he had been firing, but it was a thousand times hotter and more powerful.

His smirk fell as he saw Rhys appear. His form none the worse for where, not even his fur was singed. Of course, his clothing were completely different. Rhys wasn't about to stand there naked, so when the fire destroyed his clothing, he brought a spar set in from his displacement.

"Now let me show you MY fireball," Rhys said, bringing his hand forward. Saffron's eyebrow cocked with curiosity.

The air around Rhys' hand started to waver, as it was super heated to astonishing levels. There was no seeable fire at first, but the heat eventually caught the gases in the air on fire.

The fire burst from his fingertips; a large fireball formed and flew towards the surprised Saffron. The ball of fire was much smaller, but nonetheless just as powerful as Saffron's own. The fire passed over the fire god and blasted the asbestos walls without harming anything.

"I would expect nothing less from a survivor of that massacre," Saffron said, smirking, "I grieved for your clan that day."

"And why would you do that?" Rhys asked, amused.

"Werecreatures and Phoenixes alike are both Jaden creatures," Saffron said, "We share a connection to each other, as we also share a connection to all the other magickal races."

"I see," Rhys said.

"I am surprised that you have a werewolf in your company though," Saffron said.

"I pledged upon my families graves to protect the survivors from that day from coming to harm by my people," Ryoga said from the sidelines, "My kin killed my family just as they did Rhys'."

"I see," Saffron said, "Come with me into the counseling room. We will discuss what you wish to discuss."

"So," Saffron said, sitting on a lavish thrown. Rhys and Ryoga sat in front of him on less lavish but equally as comfortable chairs, "What is it that you wish to speak of?"

"The Joketsozuko and the Musk wish to know about the giant cannon that half appeared on the mountain neighboring this one," Rhys said, "And we are also interested."

"The Joketsozuko knew of your existence and let you live?" Saffron asked, cocking an eyebrow, "Impressive even for you."

"We managed to teach them a lesson they won't soon forget," Ryoga said, "Rhys here publicly turned the chief were-hunter into a werecreature herself. The ensuing conversation was interesting to say the least."

"I would imagine so," Saffron said, "So the Joketsozuko and the Musk have formed a impromptu treaty."

"Being as a huge transparent cannon appeared nearby," Rhys said, "I don't see it far fetched for the two to join temporarily."

"Truly it isn't," Saffron shook his head, "And you wish to know about it?"

"As much as we could," Rhys said, "Being as it is in two realms at the same time, it threatens not only Earth, but Jade as well."

"It does not exist in Earth nor Jade," Saffron said, "If it did, even though it was in both, it would still be solid. Warped and discolored yes, but not a ghost image."

"So where do you suppose it exists?" Ryoga asked.

"The third realm," Saffron said, "It reeks of corruption. It can only be of the realm of the dead and the damned."

"You suggest that the realm of the undead had breeched the barrier somehow?" Rhys said, "That would explain the immaterial form. But who in the realm of the undead would have that sort of power?"

"No sole person," Saffron said, "Even the famed Lich King couldn't breech the wall. Only a person on the outside can breech it, and bring the dead back from the grave. Conversing with others in different realms, however, would be quite easy."

"So the Lich King finds a person in Jade versed well enough in necromancy to summon a large structure in from the undead realm," Ryoga said, "I do know of some people that would be powerful enough, but to side with the Lich King is not likely."

"That theory does explain why it would appear from the undead realm, but it did not appear in Jade, but on Earth," Saffron told them, "The one who summoned it is from or was on this plane when he did it."

"So the Joketsozuko weren't wrong in their ideas of it being in both worlds," Rhys said, "It IS in two worlds, just not in Jade."

"Exactly," Saffron said.

"That still leaves out who summoned the building," Rhys sighed, "No one from Earth would be that skilled in necromancy or summoning."

"That remains to be seen," Saffron said, "We do not any leads on who did the Magick. But we do know what the machine is to be used for."

Rhys and Ryoga glanced at him, waiting.

"The machine is an artifact, created by the liches in the undead realm. The physical form remains in the undead realm so the power that fuels it still can flow into it. Its ability was summoned into Earth, making a large ghost figure in the process."

"The cannon is not necessarily a cannon. It seems, from our translations of the runes, to be an artifact that merely amplifies energies pumped into it. Be it heat, light, Magick, or ki."

"So they plan to use it to send a large wave of some sort of energy somewhere in this world?" Ryoga said, "If they filled it with the proper spell, it could easily wipe out nations."

"Yes," Saffron said, "We do not know what they plan to do with it, whoever they are. But I do not think that they are going to focus it on the earth."

"Why is that?" Rhys asked.

"The cannon is pointing strait up," Saffron shook his head, "If anything, they wish to blast some energy off into space or cover the entire planet with it. It could be a dooms day device either way."

"I doubt we'll be able to figure it out just between the three of us," Ryoga said, "If it is okay, we would like to send a select few people to study the cannon."

"And who would this be?" Saffron said, "Even if they come in peace, I cannot let the entire Amazon or Musk army in my kingdom."

"No, no, nothing like that," Rhys said, "My sisters adopted father happens to be one of Jade's best Aura Mages. Only three Amazons are coming close to your borders. Cologne and Shampoo of the cat clan, and Mousse of the wolf clan. They will stay with Ryoga and I at the Josenkyo guides mountain villa. I do not know of anyone from the Musk that is connected to Jade well enough to know runes."

"True," Saffron said, "Very well. Tomorrow, Kima and I will come to the mountain villa and escort you to the cannon."

"Thank you, Lord Saffron," Rhys nodded, smiling.

"I do it only because I have a profound respect for you, Rhys, and I welcome your family, friends, and equals into my kingdom," Saffron said, "And although I do not enjoy living on Earth, having it destroyed would most definitely hamper my current life style."

Rhys smirked.

The next day, the group went up to the Cannon. Cologne was the representative from the Amazons, just as Herb was from the Musk. Some of the Diggers had come as well; Theo to study the runes and properties, Gina and Brianna to study it scientifically.

"Yes," Theo said, "It is definitely of the realm of the undead. I'd recognize my fathers influence anywhere."

"Your father?" Herb asked.

"My father is the famed Lich King," Theo said, "We managed to seal him in the realm of the dead some time ago."

"What more can you tell?" Saffron asked.

"You were correct in your hypothesis about it being an energy amplifier," Gina said from her computer set up, "It is also definitely of this world. This kind of technology doesn't exist in the other two realms."

"And although it is an energy amplifier," Theo said, "Most of the markings and runes on it don't correspond to it. Either this artifact was poorly made, or its purpose is something not well known to the Magick community."

"Any idea of who made it?" Saffron asked.

"The aura that surrounds it is also definitely of a werecreature," Theo told him.

"Yes," Herb said, "I could feel the presence of that aura from my own kingdom the day the cannon arrived."

"The design is actually closer to a satellite dish than a cannon," Gina said, "It can probably get the same results as a cannon, but it is probably going to be used to spread a certain type of energy out in a very large area. With enough of that energy, it could cover the planet."

"The question is, is what type of energy are they going to use?" Theo said, "The markings seem almost random and make nearly no sense. See here?"

Theo pointed to a large circular collection of runes.

"This is the place where one would pump the energy into the machine," Theo said, "But usually a Magick circle such as this corresponds to one type of energy. But this one has the symbols for life, death, fire, water, light, dark… No energy I know of could fit all these criteria."

"Would it be possible to mix energies?" Saffron asked.

"Mixing energies is hard, and dangerous," Herb noted, "Take your energy and my ki. If we tried to mix them, anything could happen, but I guarantee it that the reaction wouldn't be at all controllable."

"Correct," Theo said, "Mixing opposing energies is not something anyone should dabble in. Mixing them is nearly impossible."

"Mixing them should be impossible, yes," Brianna spoke up suddenly, "But it isn't."

"What do you mean?" Cologne asked.

"I don't know about you people," Brianna shook her head, "But I've been living with people that can mix fire and water energy with relative ease, myself included. The natural limitations are there, and are hard to break through, but if you know how to do it, it's as easy as breathing."

"Yes," Theo said, "That would make sense."

"What do you mean?" Saffron asked.

"The school of the Anything Goes Ideology," Theo said, "Everything in this universe has a polar opposite, and just as a mage who specializes in fire is bad at water spells, it should be very hard to mix them. But under the correct circumstances, one can learn what is directly in the middle of the opposites."

"Anything Goes…?" Saffron asked, "So that is how Rhys learned to create a fireball."

"Yes," Cologne said, "You, Saffron, are at the extreme end of that spectrum. You cannot be hurt in any way by any type of heat, but cold damages you greatly. If you can center your mind and body on what is in the middle between hot and cold, you gain immunity from both forces, and can control them. Rhys and Ryoga are in the middle. It is very hard for hot and cold to affect them in any way."

"It seems that this machine was made with that ideology in mind then," Herb said, "Am I correct in saying that only a very small amount of people know of this method?"

"Yes," Gina said, "There are less than a dozen on Earth who know of it, as far as I know. But with all the places that go undiscovered in this world and in Jade, it is very unlikely that only that dozen know it."

"This is grave news," Cologne said, "If that is truly what they are going to use to fill this cannon, they would have an almost infinite amount of any energy they want. This machine could literally do anything."

"Yep," Brianna said, "The teachings of the Anything Goes Ideology is situated around the idea that its powers is only limited by your imagination. This cannon could easily heal every disease in the world, or it could just as easily wipe everything on this planet out."

"If this is truly meant as a weapon," Theo said, "The only way to stop it would be to find out who is behind it. And that could be any number of people from all three of the realms."

"So basically, we're screwed at the moment," Gina said.

"Exactly," Theo nodded, "All we can do is wait until its used, and hope for the best."

That night, atop one of the roofs of the Jusenkyo guide's mountain villa, Rhys and Brittany sat, gazing up at the stars.

"So…" Brittany said, "Shampoo tells me you learned some new trick."

"Heh, you could call it that," Rhys chuckled, "I kinda just did it, I still don't exactly know HOW I did it."

"You turned a woman into a werewolf, something that's supposed to be impossible for a werecheetah to do, and you don't know how you did it?" Brittany asked.

"I was angry," Rhys said, "Crème was the one that hired the werewolves to kill mother and father. I was even angrier than I was when I defeated Saffron, or when revealed my species at Furinkan. I just kinda felt my body act by itself, and it happened. All I know is that it has to do with the center of ones very being."

"Anything Goes again?" Brittany asked, "That doesn't surprise me. Most everything has something to do with a center. But a center of ones very being?"

"Every time I think about it, and remember how I did it, I realize something about the differences between humans and werecreatures," Rhys said, "And the similarities."

"Like what?" Brittany asked.

"Tell me," Rhys said, turning to her, "Why is it that, even with their gadgets and inventions, humans are so lacking in natural defenses. They have no fangs or claws, no strength of speed to take advantage of, and no protection against the climate. How could such a species evolve to become so… vulnerable?"

"Hmm…" Brittany murmured, "I haven't though about it that way before. But if what your saying is true, where did they come from?"

"Why is it that werecreatures have the ability to infect a human with the ability to shift into a hybrid and an animal form, but we cannot infect elves, dwarves, or anything else?" Rhys asked, "It's because we share a similarity that none of the other species have."

"Back to the whole connection between humans and werecreatures," Brittany sighed, "But I understand what your saying. I used to think werecreatures and humans were just two species, but recently it's becoming feasible for us really to be the same thing."

"Feasible because it's true," Rhys said, "I took Crème's spirit, and awoke something inside her that I didn't know existed; that I shouldn't have known existed. I myself did not change her into a werewolf, her body did it by itself."

"So humans evolved from werecreatures," Brittany said.

"Not quite," Rhys said, "Humans did come from werecreatures, yes, but that would mean some of the werecreatures just suddenly became weaker and more vulnerable. That's not possible when it comes to evolution."

"It seems almost like a punishment," Brittany said, "Maybe ancient werecreatures did something that merited their powers locked away. Over time people forgot about it, and they became known simply as humans."

"Exactly," Rhys smirked, "That's what happened. If humans had evolved from werecreatures naturally, I would not have been able to change Crème into a werewolf. Infecting humans wouldn't be possible in the first place. That's why a werecreature needs to cut a human to infect them. It tears at the seal that keeps their abilities locked inside. It weakens, and eventually breaks, which tells why an infected human doesn't turn for a week or two. What I did was to tear it away all at once."

"But if they were naturally supposed to be one type of werecreature, why do infected humans turn into the werecreature of the type that scratched them?" Brittany asked.

"Because the seal, in those cases, only partially goes away," Rhys told her, "Only enough to allow the powers of transformation to flow. This is also why it makes them slaves to the werecreature; the werecreature is their link to their powers."

"So all the humans are basically only werecreatures who can't transform," Brittany said, staring at the stars, "That goes against every piece of reliable history kept in Jade. No one is going to believe you."

"Someone does," Rhys told her.

"Who?" Brittany asked.

"You do, little sister," Rhys said, looking at her.

Brittany laid in bed that night, silently reminiscing on what was happening around her. She laid on her back, staring up at the ceiling, allowing her mind to wander.

She had to admit, even though she saw Gina and Brianna as sisters, she felt happy to finally have someone that was truly related to her. It wasn't as if there was a hole in her that was missing, far from it.

But when Rhys came, she suddenly saw that that non-existent hole was filled. Some dark sadness she herself hadn't realized existed had been washed away.

Her life since Rhys' communication with her had taken a turn from only slightly weird to something she never imagined. Sure, she had known spells that allowed one to fly existed, but she never imaged herself actually flying herself.

The whole thing about the origin of humans troubled her, though. She didn't know why, but she felt a strong foreboding feeling. A feeling she has had since she found out about the cannon atop the mountain.

She could feel, down on some primal level of her being, that the two were closely connected.

But that meant that the cannon was going to be used for one of two purposes. Either to be used to turn all the werecreatures on the planet into humans, or to make all the humans werecreatures.

Making the werecreatures disappear would be priority around the area of Jusenkyo, Jusendo, and Joketsozuko.

But it was also slightly feasible that someone would want humans to be werecreatures.

Brittany was about to doze off when she was suddenly jerked away by a chill that went down her spine.

Something had happened to Rhys.

Suddenly, it all clicked.

"No…" Brittany said, running out of the room, not bothering to get dressed or taking the time to awake anyone else.

"Let me go!" Rhys yelled.

"Try all you want, boy," a figure said, "Your struggles simple make you bindings stronger and tighter."

Rhys pulled at the cuffs that secured him to the discolored shape that sat atop a mountain in Jusendo. He was cuffed to a circular inscription near the base. He could feel some sort of energy coming from the cannon through the circle.

A figure stood before him, hunched over with a cloak draped over it. Its was muttering silently, barely audible and not understandable. The figure looked weak and skinny, and it had a severe hacking cough that told Rhys that this person was definitely not healthy.

Rhys watched as furry hands came from the clock, checking the bindings that held him there. They were mainly covered in gray fur that had dark spots all over it. As the man tightened the bindings, Rhys felt a sharp pain in his wrists from under the metal cuffs. A burning hot sensation that almost caused Rhys to cry out in pain.

Rhys felt a small stream of blood roll down his furry arm. Small as it was, it was flowing quickly, and Rhys would soon feel its effects.

"Oh, and don't even think about going into your full animal or human modes, the spikes on the cuffs would tear your hands off. And they are made of silver, as you probably have guessed because of the burning sensation," The man chuckled in his raspy voice.

Rhys struggled again, and this time, he was rewarded with a completely new sensation.

A draining feeling coming from the cuffs. The felt like they were sucking the life strait out of him. He shivered as his body suddenly became cold. The pain was so immense that it went beyond normal comprehension.

"Oh my," The man chucked, "What's this? Cold are we? I thought you were supposed to be immune to cold."

Rhys just stared at him with an angry piercing gaze.

"Oh that's right," The man chimed, "The machine is sapping your energies. It is a good thing to know that my creation works."

The man walked up next to Rhys and placed a hand on the machine.

"Ooo," He said, "It's even warm to the touch."

Rhys almost gagged as he suddenly lost the ability to breathe normally. He had to force air in and out of his lungs just to keep from passing out.

"You see," the man said, "This machine was built to drain the life of one who can fuel it. One who can summon both fire and ice and can control the wind and the earth. You're training in your precious little ideology makes you the perfect battery for my machine. By draining your life essence, I will send a wave of energy attuned to that which you used on that Amazon woman just a few days ago."

"You expect to turn…" Rhys said, gasping for breath, "To turn all of the humans… into… us?"

"The ability for a werecreature to control any werecreature he or she might accidentally or purposely infect," The man said, raising his arms and turning towards the moon, "I will make all the humans into werecreatures. All of whom will obey my every command. And I will rule the world."

"Of course," The man continued, not noticing his ramblings, "I can't stop there, no. I will take my army into Jade, and destroy anyone who opposes me. And then… then I will open the gates to the Realm of the Dead, and allow my great teacher back into the worlds of the living."

"Oh," The man said, turning to Rhys, who was nearly unconscious by now, and was panting slightly. He took his hand underneath Rhys' chin, "And don't expect to live much longer. The draining will not kill you, but the backwash of me firing this cannon will certainly do the job."

"Not if I can help it!" A voice came.

The man whirled around. Rhys' head flopped down, but he still looked to see who it was.

Brittany, clad in pajamas and full werecheetah claws and fur, stood there at the edge of the cliff.

"You!" The man said, while sounding like he was about to cough up a lung.

"Let my big brother go!" Brittany yelled, stalking towards the man.

"Impudent brat!" The man yelled, "I will not be stopped by the likes of you!"

Brittany flashed forward as a speed she had never achieved before. A speed even Rhys had never reached. Her claws were unsheathed and glowing a pale white. They were not brittle at all, and streaked through the night air towards the man.

But even with this speed, Brittany suddenly found herself in a world of pain. The man's hand was outstretched, obviously from casting a spell.

"Foolish girl," The man said, "Do you think you could defeat me! The speed you were traveling at is a slow walk compared to the speeds that I can travel."

Brittany collapsed to the ground, still struggling to stand. The effects of the spell made her muscles cry out in pain, making it near impossible to move. The man chuckled and walked over to her. He gripped her hair, and pulled her head up close to his as he crouched down before her.

"Pity," He said, "Such a beautiful specimen of our race. I haven't seen fellow werecheetahs in ages. Pity that you would be the ones that would set off the chain of events that will eventually free my master."

"I'm afraid that you'll just have to die now, girl," The man said, holding his other hand up, holding a fireball within it, "For one so new to the concept, I hardly doubt you can survive anything I throw at you. Oh, but don't worry. You're brother will join you soon."

Brittany stared at the fireball for a moment, before again starting to struggle against the spell. She struggled for a while longer, before the man stood up, leaving her be. The fireball dissipated.

"Oh deary me," The man said, "I was so hoping you would break down a plead for me to spare your life. Whatever."

Brittany managed to glare up at him angrily.

"Now observe as a new world order is set into motion," The man said, turning to Rhys and the machine.

Brittany felt panic overtake her. Rhys looked horrible. His breathing was slow and erratic; his arms, sides, and legs were drenched in blood; and he looked to be unconscious.

The main raised his arms, and started to chant some odd spell. The winds around the mountain started to churn around the three werecheetahs atop the cliff.

"Rhys…" Brittany said weakly.

"Omnio dolir sandirina castinte zamaguchi!" The man yelled.

Rhys suddenly bellowed out in pain as the machine started to glow a vibrant red that faded in and out like the beating of a heart.

Rhys' body started to react to the pulse oddly. His body kept flashing from male to female and had a wide variety of colors. The swirling winds suddenly became very cold, and then very hot. Lightning flashed around the mountain, and the sky itself seemed to cry out in pain.

The pulsing red of the cannon quickened as the conditions surrounding the mountain worsened.

"What is this!" The man yelled, "This was not supposed to…"

The man was suddenly blown from the top of the mountain by a lightning bolt that ripped through the sky. The smoking body that was once the insane werecheetah fell limply into the canyons below.

Brittany instantly felt the spell dissipate from around her. She sprang up and ran towards Rhys, only to be stopped by a lightning bolt.

She flew back several yards as the bolt struck her and the ground. She skidded to a painful halt near the edge of the plateau.

Several seconds past without her moving.

Slowly, she stood up once again, and she started to amble towards Rhys slowly, clutching a now severely burned arm and multiple open wounds on her side from the exploding rock.

Rhys' body had stopped changing rapidly, settling back into its normal color, but in his female form. She was also not breathing or moving.

Brittany slowly took the bolt from the cuffs that kept the female werecheetah attached to the machine. She carefully opened them, slowly allowing the silver needles to leave Rhys' wrists.

Just as the last one was opened and removed, the cannon fired.

Brittany and Rhys were both sent rocketing away from the machine in the backlash.

Gina's eyes snapped open as a wave of energy washed over her. A horrible wave that bode only an ill tragedy.

Quickly moving to gaze out the window, she stared at the mountain not too far away. The top was glowing red, and another wave of energy just now burst from the tip.

At that exact moment, everyone in the world suddenly sprang awake or to attention. They all, simultaneously glanced towards the mountain, no matter where they were.

The next wave hit Gina like a sack of bricks. The woman was slammed backwards into the wall. She impacted it with a horrible thud and fell to the floor.

Gina weakly opened her eyes as another wave burst from the tip of the mountain, and another wave already coming

She fell unconscious just before it reached her, with just enough time to see yet another wave rip from the mountaintop.


	17. Barely Alive, Surrounded By Miniskirts

Brittany awoke as the first morning light hit her face. She coughed, and struggled to sit up with the still healing burns and cuts on her. She looked around to see the cannon still sitting there, still smoking and completely torn apart. It sported numerous holes, all of which were rusted and jagged.

Seeing this, Brittany's thoughts instantly returned to Rhys, who was still lying next to her in female form.

Brittany turned to the smaller girl, and shook her to try and wake her up.

Rhys didn't respond.

"Rhys?" Brittany asked, shaking the furred girl again.

Again, no response.

"Rhys?" Brittany asked again, this time louder. She shook the girl violently to try and wake her up.

Rhys' head flopped to the side, but there was no response.

Brittany's eyes welled up with tears as she realized two things.

Rhys wasn't going to respond.

And she wasn't breathing.

Brittany started to sob into Rhys' shirt as two figures came to the top of the hill.

It was Saffron and Ryoga. They instantly saw Brittany and Rhys. It didn't take them long to realize why Brittany was crying, it was quite obvious when they came up to them.

Ryoga had dumb looks on his face. Rhys… Ranma Saotome… was dead. That was impossible. Just simply not possible.

Saffron was staring at the body of Rhys with a stern look on his face. After a time, a sad smirk appeared on his face.

Brittany and Ryoga looked at him as he started to chuckle.

Saffron didn't had time to think as a crying, enraged werecheetah was suddenly in his face.

"What's so funny?" She yelled, "You think this is funny!"

"Wait…" Saffron said.

"WHAT'S SO FUNNY ABOUT THIS!" Brittany yelled, "RHYS… Rhys is dead! Tell me how that can be funny!"

"Calm down," Saffron yelled.

"HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO CALM DOWN!" Brittany yelled in anger.

"Do it, and I will explain why!" Saffron clipped.

Ryoga placed his hand on Brittany's shoulder to stop her. Brittany glared back at him before collapsing to the ground, sobbing.

"I would like to know too," The werewolf growled, "Why is this humorous?"

"The cannon was technically a failure," Saffron said, "I knew what was meant of it as soon as the first wave hit me last night. It reeked of power, of evil, and of greed. The maker of this tower wanted to control the world, and by using their energy and infecting the entire human population with the werecreatures poison, they would control everyone, just like Rhys controlled that Amazon before he let her go. I could feel the mans thoughts as the cannon fired."

"So it failed?" Ryoga asked, looking up at the phoenix god.

"No, the machine worked perfectly," Saffron said, "But the close range effect was warped, probably by Rhys' Jusenkyo curse."

"But he absorbed the curse," Ryoga said.

"Yes, but parts of its Magick still remained," Saffron said, "The man who made this machine hadn't counted on that, and the machine started to go haywire. My guess is that the machine released the final blast of energy before aging and rusting in a matter of moments."

"So, all the humans…" Ryoga asked.

"Not all, but some are now werecreatures, each akin to their totem animal," Saffron nodded, "I would wager that only 5 of the people world wide changed."

Herb suddenly landed beside Saffron.

"The body has been found," Herb said, "Three miles to the east, severely burned. I don't think he's going anywhere soon."

"Good," Saffron said, "With the mastermind dead, the worlds masses will remain free."

"Won't they know that they're different?" Ryoga asked.

"The blast probably not only changed them, but also forced them into hybrid form," Saffron said, "But they will remain free."

"B-but…" Brittany's voice came.

Saffron glanced at the still crying werecheetah.

"The machine also lost control in another aspect," Saffron said, "No doubt you saw it. Nature suddenly losing control, Rhys' powers going haywire, and her body suddenly changing shape rapidly."

"So?" Brittany asked.

"Rhys passed out before the first blast of energy, correct?" Saffron asked.

"Yes," Brittany muttered.

"And you also removed him from the machine just before said blast of energy, correct?" Saffron asked.

"Yes."

"Then the energy that flowed through the machine didn't destroy his spirit. If you had not gotten him off of the machine, his soul would have been ripped asunder by the blast. And if that happened, you would know."

"How so?" Ryoga asked.

"Tell me," Saffron said, "What are the moving bodies of those who have no souls called."

"…" Ryoga paused, "Zombies?"

"The undead, correct," Saffron said, crossing his arms and nodding, "Had Rhys' soul been destroyed, his body would have rapidly but only partially decayed as parts of it are more linked to the soul than others. Brittany would be dead, half eaten by her undead brother in his eternal lust for living flesh, yaddah yaddah yaddah."

"But that didn't happen," Ryoga said.

"Correct, it didn't," Saffron nodded.

"But what does that mean?" Brittany asked.

"It means I've got one hell of a headache," Rhys' voice called.

Everyone glanced as Rhys places a furry hand on her own forehead.

"Rhys!" Brittany cried out, "You're alive!"

A few days later, the group returned to Hong Kong to meet up and tell the tales of whatever has happened to them over the past few days.

Rhys had remained in her female form ever since the incident. Not because she wanted too, just because the energy pulse that went through her drained her mentally and physically, leaving her in a near comatose state for weeks after the event.

Theo says that she just has to rest for a few weeks to reestablish her control over her energies inside of her, and until that time, she could do nothing that had to do with her abilities concerning her mediums and centers, and could barely do anything outside of those abilities.

It was during her period of rest that the world was forced to realize what had happened. The large conduit on the top of the mountain was a failure, the man who made it obviously didn't think that the residue of the Josenkyo curse would effect the machine.

The waves of energy DID turn many humans into werecreatures, but only some. The changed fell unconscious after being forced into their hybrid form. Most of those that fell unconscious have not yet woken up.

The Diggers home didn't change much. Julia was not changed by the wave, since she was Giant anyway. Theo and Gina had indeed changed with the energies. Gina remained unconscious for a few days before coming out of it, mainly because of her Giant heritage, though Theo had actually not been knocked unconscious in the first place.

Theo had basically, with the help of Happosai and Cologne (who thankfully remained human… or whatever they were in the first place), surmised what had happened.

The Josenkyo curse was water born curse. All those in contact with water were therefore protected from the blast, somewhat. The water protected them by diluting the blast somewhat.

This still takes into account that the blast was totally in itself chaotic in nature, and those that remained human basically had the mental control to stay awake at the time, be it through mental control or large amounts of caffine.

All those asleep at the time were instantly changed, water or no.

Those with inherent magickal abilities were immune to the effects. Theo may be a powerful mage, but his abilities were never inherent. He was not BORN with the knowledge and capability to do those abilities. Anyone with natural magickal sources in their person had something akin to a force field around them when it comes to curses, and therefore deflected the blast.

All those who are awake and werecreature hid from the outside world, as the humans and the people with inherent Magick were looking for them. And not because of nice reasons. Some of the people with inherent Magick are also taking it upon themselves to 'hunt' the demons as they awaken from their slumber. Some of the sleepers have turned up in a coma, but in human form.

Theo estimates, since Rhys is tied to all these people, when she recovers from her current state, the people trapped in limbo around the world will awaken.

No one in the Diggers family were looking forward to that day, not by much.

First things first though, was to go to Japan to make sure the Tendo's and Nodoka were okay. Then, they and Joketsozuko had the responsibility of introducing the idea of real live werecreatures into society.

But something was bothering Ryoga as he walked to the terminal to board the plane.

There was one person who had just disappeared after the Wedding Fiasco.

Ukyo.

The people of Japan were on edge, if anything. None of the werecreatures of Japan had awoken. Those that already were werecreatures stayed in human form. So on the most part, the streets were quiet as the people went about their daily lives.

But every conversation you overheard would be about the werecreatures.

Rumors from regions of Japan that many people have taken up weapons against the werecreatures swarmed everywhere. Some from off in the countryside and some in regions of Tokyo. Especially Juuban.

Ryoga and Brianna were walking towards the residential side of Juuban. Brianna had been effected by the blast to make her totally werecheetah. They were to go to Nodoka's house to see if she was awake or unconscious, human or no.

They passed many people that simple glanced at Brianna's oddly colored hair before hurrying along. The werecreatures were lucky so far; humans didn't realize that they had a human form or an animal form.

Upon approaching the Saotome house, Ryoga suddenly stopped cold. Brianna noticed his tense up, and glanced around.

"What is it?" Brianna asked.

"Something's wrong here," Ryoga said, "A huge energy force is around here somewhere."

"What type of energies?" Brianna asked.

"I don't know," Ryoga said, "Some are elemental, while others are energy based. They're coming from different places. All of which a…"

Ryoga stopped cold.

"All of which what?" Brianna asked, glancing at the look on his face, confused.

"All of which are coming from Nodoka's house," Ryoga said, "And they're angry."

Ryoga tore off towards the house, ripping through the front gate easily. Brianna followed suit, running after Ryoga as he tore through the house towards Nodoka's room.

With a loud slam and the sound of paper tearing, the door to Nodoka's room flew open.

Nodoka was lying in bed, unconscious from the blast. Her naturally red hair was now blaringly red, as she was currently a werefox. She was on her side, underneath the bed sheets in her nightgown.

Around her were several girls, all dressed in skimpy school uniforms. Ryoga glanced at Nodoka and then to the girls, instantly recognizing them as the sources of the strong energies that radiated around him.

There were five in total. One had short blue hair, two with brown hair; one wearing red, the other green; a blonde one, and one with green hair.

Ryoga's hand snapped out to stop Brianna from entering the room. The girls, who had been preparing to do something to Nodoka, were now all staring at him.

"What are you doing with her?" Ryoga demanded.

"What are you doing here yourself?" The green haired one said in a bored tone, signaling for the others to continue.

"I happen to be a friend of the family," Ryoga said hotly, "Now answer me, what are you doing with her?"

"We are cleansing her," The green haired one said, in the same bored tone.

"Of what?" Ryoga asked.

"The demon that has infested her body," The woman said, "Haven't you noticed her current state?"

"Her state looked like a perfectly healthy werefox, who isn't in need of cleaning or anything of the sort," Ryoga said, "Now get OUT of the house."

"I cannot allow this woman to fall because of a demon," The woman said, annoyed, "It is our duty to protect the people of earth fr…"

"I don't CARE what your duty is!" Ryoga cut her off, "Get out of the house before I MAKE you get out of the house."

The woman's face fell into a very annoyed and angry expression.

"Are you threatening me?" She asked, "Oh… oh wait. You're one of the demons yourself. Your friend's hair is riddled with cheetah spots. Then it is my duty to destroy you!"

The woman lashed out, pointing at Ryoga.

"DEAD SCREAM!" She yelled as a large blast of Magick flew at Ryoga at near point blank range.

To the girls inside the room, Ryoga and Brianna were enveloped by the blast, and turned into nothingness.

The green haired woman smirked and turned back to Nodoka's unconscious form.

"Very impressive," Ryoga's voice fell upon the girls, "But a spell of that sort only works when you HIT your target."

The woman with green haired turned around suddenly to see Ryoga stepping back into the doorway.

Looking in, Ryoga could have sworn that something was missing.

"You have to know that in the time you used when casting that spell, I could have killed you several times over," Ryoga said, "But I didn't, because you think your doing a public service by 'curing' these people of their lycanthropy. You're not helping them, you're sending them to their grave."

"Better dead than evil," The woman said.

"Hmph," Ryoga said, noting that the other girls weren't doing anything besides listening to them, "So the famous Sailor Scouts of Juuban are nothing but a group of cold hearted murderers."

"Hey!" The one wearing red shouted.

"Lycanthropes are not demons!" Brianna cut in, "We're just like humans, except we have abilities that humans don't got!"

"You…" The woman with blue hair asked, "You're one of them?"

"We both are," Ryoga said, "Ever since we were born, almost 19 years ago. And you're not going to get rid of all of the werecreatures. In a few weeks, they were awaken, and we shall see what happens then."

"Y… you did this to them!" The blonde one said, "You turned all these people into monsters! Into Youma!"

"Oh please," Brianna said, "Werecreatures are not monsters or Youma! And we had no part in what changed the people like this! The only person at blame for this was killed before the effects even happened!"

"I don't believe you!" The once dressed in red yelled, "BURNING MANDALA!"

Ryoga didn't flinch as the rings of fire slid harmlessly through him. Brianna, who was behind him, simply made them extinguish by chilling them.

"Finished playing?" Ryoga asked.

The one with green hair started freaking out.

"It's you!" She yelled, pointing at Ryoga "The… the…"

"The what?" Ryoga asked, curious but cold.

"You're the werewolf from Nerima!" She yelled, "One of the… Inherited…"

"The what?" Ryoga asked, confused.

The green haired woman looked terrified for a moment, before she lashed out again.

"YOU'RE INHERETED!" She screamed, "BECAUSE OF YOU CRYSTAL TOKYO WILL NEVER HAPPEN!"

"Crystal what?" Brianna asked.

"WHICH ONE ARE YOU!" The green haired woman asked Brianna, "THE LAST! THE MISTAKEN! THE PURPOSE!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ryoga asked.

"DEAD SCREAM!" The woman yelled again.

Ryoga and Brianna dodged again, easily. But when they looked back into the room. Only Nodoka's sleeping form remained.

Nodoka was human, and looked to be in pain.

The closet door opened, and a brown haired girl. Ryoga and Brianna, due to their keener sense of smell, knew that she was a sailor scout. The one that previously had on a green fuku.

Ryoga and Brianna did nothing but watch as the girl went over to Nodoka, and placed her hand on her arm.

She looked up at Ryoga and Brianna. They could tell she hadn't gotten enough sleep lately. Her eyes were tired and she had a fatigued smile on her face.

"I'm… sorry for what Setsuna said," The girl asked, "I'm Sailor Mercury. My name is Mikoto Hino."

"Weren't the Sailor Scouts supposed to be extremely secretive of their identity?" Ryoga asked.

"I don't care anymore," Mikoto said, "I know werecreatures aren't Youma. I know that I shouldn't help make Crystal Tokyo… but I guess I've just been deluding myself."

"What do you mean?" Ryoga said, "What's Crystal Tokyo?"

"An impossible dream," Mikoto said, "Imagine a world where there is no strife, no pain, no suffering… no war and no fighting."

"Seems like a paradise," Brianna chimed in.

"That's what Crystal Tokyo is supposed to be," Mikoto shook her head, "But to be no fighting, no contests, everyone has to have the same ideals. A completely uniform society. Either that or a totalitarian state ruled completely by fear. Doesn't seem as good now, does it?"

"No… not at all," Ryoga said, "For a uniform society, there has to be only perfectly healthy human men and women, all other races must die or be shut out."

"Yeah," Mikoto said, "And even though I would have been one of the people that would have made it happen, I'm doomed never to see it happen."

"Why?" Brianna asked.

"Because I'm not like the other sailor scouts," Mikoto said, "Setsuna has been freaking out because of the werecreatures, and her ability to read the possible futures have become clouded with a group of people named the Inherited. They're supposedly the people bringing in the demon infestation into the world."

"And you're not human," Ryoga said, "Then what are you?"

"I…" Mikoto said, "I'm a bronze dragon."

"What?" Brianna asked.


	18. Shoving It Down Your Throat

"So that's what happened," Mikoto sighed, "This was all just a big misfortune."

It was a small while later, Ryoga and Brianna had told the story of how the human population was changed and why Crystal Tokyo was in jeopardy.

"We have to tell Setsuna this," Brianna said, "So we can stop her from doing what she did to Mrs. Saotome to others!"

"She won't listen," Mikoto said, "She hasn't ever listened to anything we suggest."

"Then we'll stop her another way," Ryoga said.

"How can you stop someone who manipulates time like she does?" Mikoto asked.

"I don't know, but something has to work," Ryoga said, "After all, anything is possible."

"I just wish there was something we could do for Nodoka and the rest of them," Brianna asked.

"Usagi just used her Magick to cleanse them of anything that didn't make them human. If you could reintroduce the werecreatures abilities into them, you could awaken them. But infection won't work. My… friends have tried it."

Ryoga looked down at Nodoka for a moment.

"Then I'll have to do the same thing that Rhys did in China," Ryoga said, lifting his hand to reveal that it was glowing a pale silver color.

Ryoga's hand started to glow brighter as he suddenly shifted into hybrid form. His claws now held the majority of the glow, making them seems to be made of pearl.

With his index claw, her touched Nodoka just below the collarbone, pricking her skin slightly.

"Inheritage," He said simply.

A pulse of energy flew about him.

Nodoka's eyes shot open as she suddenly inhaled deeply. She sat up suddenly, her red fur, tail, and ears growing back almost instantly. Ryoga managed to retract his claw before it harmed her.

On Nodoka's face, there was the expression of total fear. She looked as if she had stared death in the face, watching it coming ever closer to her. It's skeletal features lusting for her life and her spirit.

It looked as such, as that was exactly what she had saw.

"So that's what happened," A red furred Nodoka said as she sipped a cup of tea, "How many people?"

"Saffron and Theo think about 5 of the entire world population," Ryoga said, "If the machine hadn't misfired, it would have been a total 100."

"And… who almost killed me?" Nodoka asked in a quiet tone.

"They're not killing people," Mikoto said, "They… the people are just in comas."

"No," Nodoka shook her head, "That was no coma. I was dead. I knew it. I could feel it. I could see death rushing towards me, but it never got to me… kami-sama… no one should go through that. And I only saw it for a few fleeting moments."

"And there are people who've been like that for almost a week," Mikoto said, staring at the ground, "And I helped them get that way. I feel so ashamed."

"You did put them that way," Ryoga said coldly, "But you can still help them. We can't just leave them that way."

"How do we do that? You might be able to dodge a Dead Scream, but with all the scouts shooting at once, you'll eventually get hit."

"We fight back," Ryoga said, "But on our own terms."

"Scouts!" Mikoto's voice rang through the communicators, "The demons we met earlier are assembling in the park! Hurry!"

Mikoto waited, standing next to the pond, not in her sailor scout uniform. She just stared across the water, watching as the orange and red leaves touched down, sending ripples throughout the mirror surface.

She heard the scouts run up behind her.

"Mikoto, where are they?" Moon yelled.

"And why aren't you ready for them?" Mars asked.

Mikoto didn't respond or turn for a moment. She sighed, steeled herself, and turned around. She just stared at them.

"What's wrong?" Moon asked.

"I…" Mikoto said, "I'm here to ask you… no, to tell you to stop purifying the werecreatures. You have no idea what you're doing to them."

"What?" Moon asked, "What do you mean?"

"They aren't demons!" Mikoto said loudly, "When you purify them, you're damning them to… to… a fate worse than death!"

"What's up with you?" Mars asked hotly, "Are you…?"

"Am I a werecreature?" Mikoto asked. She didn't continue.

All of the sailor scouts held their breath.

"No."

They all sighed in relief.

"But I can't let you hurt any more people. Even if I have to fight you."

Mars walked up to her.

"What is wrong with you?" She said angrily. Mikoto didn't physically respond, "You know that the sailor scouts are only doing what they need to for Crystal Tokyo, and Pluto said we need to do this. So we are!"

"I don't care what Setsuna said!" Mikoto said coldly, "You WILL stop this charade! Defeating Youma and saving people is one thing, damning the people we had previously saved is another!"

"I don't believe you," Mars said, "I think you were infected. You're a werewolf, aren't you?"

"No!"

"Admit it!"

"I am not a werewolf!"

"What are you?"

Mikoto growled as she suddenly stopped.

"…I… am not a werewolf…" She said coldly.

Mars heard Mercury gasp. They all turned to her.

"We're surrounded!" She said, looking into her computer like thingy, "It's a trap!"

Mars whirled around to see Mikoto's sullen face. Mars reeled back to punch her in the face.

Her fist never got there.

Mars looked up to see a tall furred girl with cheetah spots all over her. Her hair was in a loose ponytail, and she was wearing rather tight clothing. This cheetah girl had Mars by the wrist.

Mars, confident in her superior strength, pulled away.

She didn't even manage to make the girl lean towards her. The grip was too strong. Even for her sailor form.

"Let go of her!" Moon yelled, sending a blast of Magick at the girl. The girl let go of Mars and jumped backwards, avoiding the blast.

Mars looked at her before again looking back at Mikoto, who had stepped away from her.

"I'm sorry," Mikoto said, "But I can't allow you to hurt anyone else."

"Traitor!" Mars yelled as she lunged for her.

"NO!" A voice called. Mars looked back to see Pluto standing in the middle of the scouts. Mars smirked and ran towards them.

"I think you'll find that you're not able to teleport away from this location," A voice called.

Pluto blinked, as she realized she couldn't teleport.

A tall cheetah spotted man stepped out from behind a tree. Instead of yellow fur though, it was grayish silver. The man had glasses on and a robe to match. Beside him was another cheetah girl, this one wearing a hat and glasses. She had a mean looking gun in her hand.

The werewolf and werecheetah that they had met earlier in the Saotome house came from another direction.

Another werewolf and a purple haired werecat came from yet another.

They all glanced around, before turning back towards Mikoto and the werecheetah near her.

"Traitor!" Mars yelled again.

"How could you, Mikoto?" Moon asked.

"I… had to," Mikoto said, "I owed it to the people we purified to help them recover."

"These demons are in the way of Crystal Tokyo!" Pluto yelled.

"CRYSTAL TOKYO IS NOTHING BUT A DELUSION!" Mikoto exploded.

The scouts just stared at her.

Mikoto breathed deeply, trying to calm herself.

"Humans aren't the only things that inhabit this world and live in it peacefully," Mikoto said, "Now more than ever. If you create Crystal Tokyo, you'll be killing and ostracizing millions!"

"No!" Moon said, "Crystal Tokyo will be a paradise! No one will be killed or ostracized!"

"But how can there be a paradise when the rulers and leaders go around killing and damning half the population?" Mikoto said, "You call them Youma, monsters, and demons; BUT THEY'RE JUST NORMAL PEOPLE!"

"Like hell they are!" Mars yelled back at her.

"Rei!" Mikoto said, turning to her, "I'll have you know that you have a bit of 'demon' blood in you!"

"WHAT!" Mars yelled.

"You're great great great grandmother was a werefox," Mikoto said.

"Bull shit!" Mars yelled.

"Usagi," Mikoto said, looking at her, "The kind man from the Ice Cream Parlor. He's a half dragon."

"A half dragon?" Moon asked, "But wouldn't he…?"

"Dragons have the ability to assume a human form," Mikoto answered, before looking towards Mercury, "Ami, you're favorite teacher? He's a giant."

"Giant?" Mercury asked, "He's not THAT tall."

"Giants are not necessarily tall," The werecheetah with gray fur to the right of the group said, "I should know, my wife is a giant, and Gina here is half giant."

He motioned to the lithe werecheetah girl next to him. She smiled and waved at them.

"Can't… we fix that?" Moon asked.

Mikoto shook her head, looking downward.

"You seek to rid the planet of all that isn't normal," Mikoto said, "Only then will you be able to have your uniform, perfect society."

"If that is what must be done," Setsuna said coldly.

"Then why don't you start with me!" Mikoto yelled.

Silence.

"What?" Moon asked.

"I'm not human!" Mikoto said, "I…"

Mikoto just looked down. She went calm, as she concentrated. Winds seem to spring up around the park, swirling in towards Mikoto. She started to glow. An orb of light started to build from the winds, forming around her.

The orb hovered there for a moment, before it burst open.

Mikoto again touched down on the ground. Her skin was tanned, her eyes were a piercing golden yellow. Her hair was also a bronze color. On her hands there were claws, and from her forehead came two curving horns that went behind her ears, close to the skull.

From her back sprang two leathery wings. A tail came from her spine.

She was now wearing a green dress that sparkled along with the green jewel on her necklace.

"I'm a dragon," She said, "A bronze dragon."

There was an utter silence, even Setsuna looked shocked.

"So if you really want to get rid of everything that doesn't fit into you're perfect society," Mikoto said growing angry and loud, "Strike me down and kill me, because I will NOT be purified and robbed of my very nature and existence!"

"Mikoto…" Moon said, "What happened to you?"

"NOTHING!" Mikoto yelled, "Nothing has happened to me! You all keep thinking that anything that isn't human was MADE that way! Well I wasn't! I was born a dragon! I've always been a dragon, be as I may be Mikoto or a Sailor Scout!"

Silence.

"If you still truly want Crystal Tokyo, then…" Mikoto swallowed, "Then you'll have to kill me."


	19. Beginning of a New Era

Tension had dropped, and the sailor scouts had subsided. They now stood apart from the non-humans, talking.

Setsuna had disappeared as soon as Theo had dispelled the anti-Magick field.

Theo and the others were explaining things to the scouts.

"Tell me, these Youma, what do they do?"

"They… come into our world to steal peoples life and soul," Moon said, "But we've always stopped them."

"I see," Theo with his glasses a moment, "Then I'll have you know that the only way to 'fix' this 'problem' would be to purify the people like you did the werecreatures."

"Then we'll do that!" Moon said.

"But tell me, why haven't any of them woken up?" Theo asked.

"Um…" Moon said.

"Usually people are drained after we purify them," Mercury said, "They've been known to sleep for almost two days."

"But there are some that had been asleep for nearly a week," Theo said, "And why do they look like they're in such pain as they sleep?"

"I… I don't know…" Mercury said.

"It is because by purifying them, you're basically taking from them what makes them different than humans," Theo said, "And in all of the cases with Youma, it would be removing the demon from inside the person. What happens when you purify someone who doesn't have a demon in them, but you still take the thing that makes them different?"

Silence.

"Simple," Theo said, "In a possession, a demons soul is what changes a person into a Youma. But in these cases, where no demon soul is present…"

"We're taking the peoples souls," Mercury said with a distant stare.

"No way!" Mars yelled.

"Correct," Theo said, "A soul, a spirit is what makes you who you are, and by taking away that piece of them, you're taking away their souls. They are trapped between life and death, not fully alive, not fully dead."

"We… we were doing the exact same thing that the Youma had been doing…" Mars said, finally sedated, "Oh kami-sama…"

"Things have accelerated beyond your control," Ryoga said, "Beyond any of our control. I doubt Crystal Tokyo will ever come to pass. The Diggers, the Amazons, the Tendos, Mikoto, Rhys and I… would all have to die."

"I can't do it," Moon said, bending forward to put her forehead on the grass. She grabbed two handfuls of the green plants and started to cry, "I can't kill people. I just can't."

"What do we do now?" Mercury asked.

"We get those who can do the Inheritage together," Ryoga said, "And you give us the location of everyone you've purified. We can reverse the damage."

"You can?" Mars asked, "How?"

"It… it's a long story," Ryoga shook his head.

"What's the… Inherited?"

"The Inheritage…" Brittany spoke up, "Is a technique that my brother, Rhys performed. Ryoga can also do it. It turns any human into a werecreature instantly."

"WHAT!" Mars shouted out, "Is that why the people were like how they were!"

"No!" Brittany yelled, "That was all just a stupid mistake!"

"If it hadn't been for Brittany and Rhys," Brianna said, "A lot more people would have turned into werecreatures."

"How… how many?" Mercury asked.

"At the moment, about 5 or so of the entire world population is werecreature," Brittany shook her head, "If I had failed… my brother and I would be dead and everyone, the whole 100 population of earth, would have changed, and not only that, you would all be under the control of a psycho."

Setsuna was crying. The gates of time spun behind her in its eternal dance of time. She, for the first time in ages, paid no attention to it. And she had good reason. One that no one could rightfully argue.

The one thing she has lived for over the ages, waiting alone in the gates of time, was destroyed. Crystal Tokyo, the dream of her Queen and her own dream, was now just another impossibility in the time stream.

Had she lived for nothing?

Having ones meaning of life ripped away from you can indeed turn a courageous warrior into a shell of a man.

She wanted to blame the werecreatures. She wanted to…

But she couldn't.

Setsuna was not blind to the future. She knew this was coming, she knew that Rhys surviving the raid would endanger Crystal Tokyo. And if she had followed through with her previous plan, the danger wouldn't exist.

But as she saw Rhys lying there, staring at the pile of burning tribe members, she stopped. The absolute fear and anguish in the small child's eyes had stilled her.

The original plan was to kill the small boy, and let it be chalked up to just another casualty of the massacre.

But the emotion on Rhys' face, one of total loneliness, had stopped her.

And so, in a way, she had destroyed Crystal Tokyo more than ten years ago when she couldn't kill the small child.

All because he may be the only person she might ever think could understand what she went through.

"Today, we have surprising news," The new anchorwoman said, "After nearly two weeks of their campaign to purify the now transformed members of Tokyo, the famed Sailor Scouts have publicly announced that they were wrong in their belief that the said transformed persons were Youma."

A picture appears beside her head. It shows the Sailor Scouts speaking on a platform. Behind them were five people.

Two cheetah girls, two wolf boys, and a purple and white furred girl. One of the cheetah girls was sitting in a chair, looking rather tired.

Standing with the five animal people was a tall girl with leathery bat wings and horns.

"After speaking to the people about what was happening, and that there was no cure, the scouts continued to speak on how they would ask four of the five attending werecreatures for aid in fixing the damage they have caused by purifying the afflicted people."

The picture became full screen, and started to play back a recording.

"With the discovery that many of the citizens of Tokyo were already werecreatures and other creatures of lore," Moon said, "We have been forced to realize that these people, when awake, shall be no different than any other intelligent being upon this planet. The people we have harmed will be healed as soon as possible."

With that, Moon stepped aside, and the werewolf with the long hair and small glasses came forward.

"My name is Mu Tzu of the Josenkyo region of China," He stated, "I, myself, was not born what I am now. I was forced into it much like the people around the world have been, just at a different time and a different way. I can safely say, that after the shock is over, the world will return to its normal way of life, but maybe a bit wiser and a bit more together than before."

"This is indeed a world wide crisis that will tear down many cultural walls and barriers, we shall all be going through the same thing. But as this tears down walls, it will also raise them. Where cultural differences laid, in the future differences of species will become evident. But until then we can only do so much."

"All we can say is to keep the claws of any newly afflicted werecreature away from the skin of humans. The tales of a werewolf turning a person into a werewolf is possible. Treatment to lock away this power and curse of infection will be administered as soon as possible, as connections to those able to perform it are established."

The screen went back to the anchorwoman.

"Those responsible for this calamity have not yet been found," she said, "But Mr Tzu and the others present have promised to track down a punish them in the near future. More will be reported as this tale unfolds."

A wise man once said…

"It is surprising how often the question is the answer itself in its own entirety."

He then paused…

"Which is basically a really complex way of saying 'I dunno'."

HAHA! SUCK IT DRY!


End file.
